Journalism Ethics Research Articles

Navigating the digital classroom: a qualitative content analysis of MOOC discourses in Indian e-newspapers

Purpose This paper aims to explore and unravel the contents portrayed in online news discourses on massive open online courses (MOOCs). Considering sociological dimensions and journalistic strategies, this study examines how online news media reflects, shapes and informs narratives about the social acceptance and use of the MOOC model of learning. Design/methodology/approach Using the Gioia methodology as the overarching framework, this study adopted a two-staged qualitative content analysis of 1,162 online news items from the websites of the top seven online English newspapers of India, published between May 2012 and September 2023. In subsequent semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts, broad themes were identified. In addition, this study integrated Van Dijk’s ideological square model with media content theories to comprehensively analyze the intricate complexities in media depictions of MOOCs. Findings While manifest content analysis revealed the emergence of 25 categories, latent content analysis unveiled six broad themes: “announcements, user stages, characteristics, benefits, changing facets, and educational inequalities,” which are associated with the MOOC model. Application of Van Dijk’s model evidenced the usage of a positive self-representation strategy by Indian online news media until mid-2020. The application of media content theories underscored the predominant usage of reframing as a journalistic strategy to maintain reader interest in MOOC-related content in online news items, emphasizing the dynamic nature of media portrayals of social phenomena such as MOOCs. Practical implications The depth of MOOC-related coverage and the increasing number of news articles discussing MOOCs in Indian online media signify a growing acceptance of this educational innovation in society. Insights from emergent themes can aid administrators and platforms to effectively design and deliver future courses. In addition, understanding these themes can guide the development of media strategies to address contextual issues such as educational inequalities arising from MOOCs. This study also focuses on the necessity of upholding journalistic ethics in content dissemination. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive synthesis of various themes and journalistic strategies adopted by online news media over the last decade in MOOC-based narratives in India. Given the distinctive Indian context, wherein MOOCs are growing rapidly amid widening digital inequalities, this research addresses calls within information systems literature to explore this phenomenon. It pioneers the integration of communication and mass media theories to analyze the complex sociological dynamics in news discourses on MOOCs, offering a novel perspective on the intersection of media representation and educational innovation.

Special issue of the Asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia, and Russia—China: Hong Kong

Special issue of the Asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia, and Russia—China: Hong Kong

An Assessment of the Impact of New Media And Citizen Journalism on Conventional Media Ethics in Nigeria

There is no doubt that citizen journalists engaging in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) have been complimenting the conventional media with information dissemination to the public sphere. However, a lot of loopholes have been observed in their duty discharge that are not professional and unethical to journalism practices. Media are an essential part of any developed or developing country; they are the mouthpiece of both the ruler and the ruled, and at the same time they have a great influence on the society, thereby are expected to uphold morals in high regard. Morals in journalism are seen as ethics that guide the performances of the journalism profession, ethics of the profession aren’t to be toiled with. Lack of media ethics is detrimental to the profession and capable of putting the society/country in jeopardy. This study is therefore set out to examine the impact/effect of new media and long-term citizen journalism on conventional media ethics. As it is known ethics in journalism is core to professional duty discharge and needs to be held in high esteem.

Study of the Framework and Attributes of Ethical Standards in Journalism

It has always been difficult to create fair evaluation criteria for journalists, especially when it comes to judging morality and ethical conduct in news reporting. These guidelines function as yardsticks for gauging the ethics of news topics and the objectivity of journalistic techniques. These criteria are becoming more and more difficult as journalism changes, especially in the digital age. Fostering ethical journalism requires an understanding of its categorization and internal structure. This analysis employs a conceptual framework to explore the evaluation standards of news ethics. The method involves: Literature Review: Examining existing academic literature, ethical codes, and industry guidelines to outline the prevailing evaluation standards in journalism. Thematic Analysis: Identifying and categorizing the components of evaluation standards into normative and quality standards, assessing their relevance to different aspects of journalistic practice. Case Studies: Analyzing specific instances where journalistic ethics were put to the test, allowing for a practical understanding of how these standards function in real-world scenarios. The primary objective of this study is to clarify the internal structure of journalistic ethics evaluation standards and highlight the distinctions between normative and quality standards. By doing so, the analysis aims to provide insights into how these standards can be effectively applied to evaluate news behaviors and moral character in journalism. What is deemed ethical in one context may not hold the same weight in another. This relativity underscores the importance of understanding the specific circumstances surrounding journalistic practices. Historical Context: The evolution of journalistic ethics is tied to historical events and societal changes. Standards that once sufficed may need reevaluation to address contemporary challenges, particularly with the rise of digital media and misinformation. Complex Internal Structure: The internal structure of evaluation standards can be multi-layered, with different levels of criteria applied depending on the context and specific ethical dilemmas faced by journalists. This complexity requires continuous dialogue and adjustment as new ethical challenges arise. Practical Implications: Journalists and media organizations must engage with these standards actively, incorporating them into training and policy development. By fostering an understanding of both normative and quality standards, the industry can promote a more ethical and accountable journalism practice.

Special issue of the Asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia, and Russia: Philippines

Special issue of the Asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia, and Russia: Philippines

Journalistic Ethics in Covering Sharia Economic Issues: An Islamic Perspective

This study explores how the principles of journalistic ethics can be applied in covering issues of Islamic economics. In the era of rapidly developing digital media, journalism plays an important role in disseminating information about Islamic economics, which is increasingly relevant in the global economy. However, the delivery of this information is often faced with ethical challenges, such as objectivity, truth, and public interest, especially in the context of an economic system based on Islamic values. This study analyzes the basic principles of journalistic ethics, such as accuracy, independence, and fairness, and how these values synergize with Islamic teachings, especially in terms of Islamic economics. In addition, this study also discusses Islamic views on the dissemination of information, social justice, and protection of individual rights that can be a guide for journalists in carrying out their duties. Through literature studies and theoretical analysis, this study found that the principles of journalistic ethics are in line with Islamic teachings, especially in terms of upholding justice, transparency, and social responsibility. In conclusion, the integration of journalistic ethics and Islamic perspectives in covering sharia economics can improve the quality of information conveyed to the public, encourage broader awareness of the importance of an economy based on moral and religious values, and minimize the distortion of information that is detrimental to society.

Literature Review on Media Ethics

Being the embodiment of the professional ethics of journalists, media ethics plays a vital role in maintaining the authenticity and objectivity of news, protecting the public’s right to be informed and of participation, and enhancing the credibility of news media. In contemporary times, the emphasis on media ethics is not only of incredible significance to fulfill the needs of its sustainable development, but also provides an important guarantee for maintaining social public interests and promoting social stability and harmony. In this context, this paper aims at helping researchers clarify the status quo of relevant researches, main viewpoints put forward already, controversial focus and unresolved problems through literature review from different aspects, including the development of media ethics and the connotation and significance so as to determine the positioning of researches, avoid duplication of work, and find research gaps and breakthroughs. At the same time, it is intended to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation among the academic community by presenting research results and academic viewpoints to build up a benign environment for media ethics and news transmission in the new era.

Special issue of the asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia, and Russia—Japan

Special issue of the asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia, and Russia—Japan

AI Ethics in Journalism (Studies): An Evolving Field Between Research and Practice

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism has sparked complex ethical debates, particularly with the rise of generative AI systems. By now, AI permeates the entire news cycle, from information gathering to news dissemination, raising questions revolving around issues such as transparency, accountability, responsibility, bias, and diversity. Previous research showed that news organizations have slowly approached and adapted to ethical concerns regarding the use of AI, developing critical stances mainly due to rising AI power, growing audience skepticism, and mounting tensions within the industry between news publishers’ strategies and journalists’ anxieties. Consequently, ethical guidelines have started to emerge in news organizations, but their practical application remains challenging and under-studied, not only due to the opacity of AI algorithms, but also due to the difficulties of “embedding” journalistic values into AI systems. In the light of an intensifying discourse about ethical concerns in the news industry and growing efforts by governments and institutions such as the European Union to strengthen AI governance, journalism studies have started to explore the issue as well. However, research on AI ethics is still in its infancy, with significant gaps in understanding the practical enforcement of ethical guidelines within newsrooms, in particular when it comes to the design of AI systems. This essay critically discusses the way journalism (studies) approach ethical issues related to the use and the design of AI systems, given that the responsible use and design of AI systems in journalism is crucial given its integral role for democracy and society.

Verifying a new historical stage in the ethics of communication: second generation ethics codes

Throughout the 20th century, most of the world’s countries and international journalistic organizations adopted codes of journalistic ethics with general principles governing the profession. In the 21st century, a significant number of proposals have emerged offering new ethics recommendations relating to the treatment of issues such as gender violence, disability, the environment and climate change, among other matters. The aim of this research is to confirm that we are faced with a second generation of ethics codes or guidelines for social communication. This study, based on the content analysis of 53 guides published in Spain on the three subject areas mentioned, shows the emergence of these codes from 1999 onwards, the existence of common features in relation to their endorsement, their structure, their dissemination and monitoring, and the widespread participation of individuals, experts and groups not professionally related to the field of communication in their promotion or implementation, which is evidence of what we call the social self-regulation of communication and represents the main novelty in this new stage of communication ethics.

The Future in Journalism and Mass Communication India

Journalism is assembling, handling and spread of news and data identified with the news to a group of people. The word applies to both the technique for inquisitive for news and the abstract style which is utilized to spread it. Mass communication is the investigation of how people and elements transfer data through broad communications to vast fragments of the populace in the meantime. International Journal of Media Journalism and Mass Communications (IJMJMC) is an internationally peer reviewed academic journal that publishes recent advancements in the field of Media Journalism and Mass Communications. We publish articles on topics like Media studies, Media influence, Communication studies, Social science, Citizen Journalism, Creative nonfiction, Journalism ethics and standards, Journalism genres, Non-profit journalism, Corporate media, Journalistic professionalism, Media balance, Media bias Peace Journalism, Social dynamics, Political commentary etc.

Media Trial: Balancing Press Freedom and the Right to a Fair Trial

This article, titled "Media Trial: Balancing Press Freedom and the Right to a Fair Trial," explores the complications arising from media trials, where intense and often exaggerated media coverage can influence public opinion and alter legal results. While the media plays a crucial role as the "fourth estate" in fostering transparency and accountability, its involvement in judicial matters risks compromising the fairness of trials. The article explores how media trials can violate or uphold the right to a fair trial by referring to significant cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Jessica Lal case respectively. It delves into the legal and moral dilemmas, the influence of social media, and the necessity of finding a balance between press freedoms and the integrity of the judicial process. The discussion underscores the significance of ethical journalism and legal protections to safeguard both public interest and the integrity of the justice system. Ultimately, the article recommends a cautious approach to reconcile these conflicting rights in today's media environment.

The roles and ethics of journalism: A comparative study of journalistic cultures in two student cohorts

This study uses journalistic instrumental-value surveys to compare how two cohorts of postgraduate journalism students, one of which completed undergraduate studies in Australia and the other in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), weigh the importance of journalistic ethics and roles. It finds that the students who previously studied in Australia consistently value the adversarial and interpretative functions of the press as more important, while the students who studied in China rate the mobilizer and disseminator function of journalists as more significant. While the differences surrounding perception of ethical issues are not pronounced, the students who had studied in China perceive greater difficulty resolving issues of taste and decency. Drawing on a schema used by Hanusch and Hanitzsch in 2019, the study analyses the results in respect of differing journalistic cultures and notes the implications for an Australian journalistic education system that increasingly services international students.

‘What will the lawyers say?’: Australian newsroom perspectives on journalism ethics and naming criminal suspects in a digital world

This article examines journalism ethics and identifying criminal suspects in Australian news coverage. This study builds off our previous research, which established that naming is so commonplace, it is occurring on a daily basis in the state of Victoria, even in cases with little public interest justification. A survey of 410 Australian news media professionals, as well as twelve semi-structured interviews, found journalists believe naming is an ethical decision, but it is not high on their agenda with naming treated as their default position. Media lawyers play a key role in newsroom naming practices with the legal strongly influencing what is deemed ethical. These findings are significant because it is the first empirical data from Australia and the findings are in stark contrast with news reporting practices in other countries. This article argues for stronger ethical guidelines in a digital news media environment where naming is now global and forever.

Cloning Journalism Practices and Violations of Journalistic Ethics (Case Study of Press Company Organizations in Bengkulu Local Media)

Cloning Journalism Practices and Violations of Journalistic Ethics (Case Study of Press Company Organizations in Bengkulu Local Media)

A data-centric approach for ethical and trustworthy AI in journalism

AI-driven journalism refers to various methods and tools for gathering, verifying, producing, and distributing news information. Their potential is to extend human capabilities and create new forms of augmented journalism. Although scholars agreed on the necessity to embed journalistic values in these systems to make AI systems accountable, less attention was paid to data quality, while the results’ accuracy and efficiency depend on high-quality data in any machine learning task. Assessing data quality in the context of AI-driven journalism requires a broader and interdisciplinary approach, relying on the challenges of data quality in machine learning and the ethical challenges of using machine learning in journalism. To better identify these, we propose a data quality assessment framework to support the collection and pre-processing stages in machine learning. It relies on three of the core principles of ethical journalism—accuracy, fairness, and transparency—and participates in the shift from model-centric to data-centric AI, by focusing on data quality to reduce reliance on large datasets with errors, making data labelling consistent, and better integrating journalistic knowledge.

Special issue of the asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia and Russia – Indonesia

Special issue of the asian journal of business ethics on global survey of business ethics (GSBE) reports 2022–2024 from Asia, Australia and Russia – Indonesia

Intangible cultural heritage of Poland and Belarus in media messages (identification of threats)

The article aims to identify threats to intangible cultural heritage generated by the media, which can be used to develop recommendations for a code of ethics for journalists and other individuals working with intangible cultural heritage in the media field. The media is one of the factors potentially threatening intangible cultural heritage as identified in UNESCO documents andresearch papers. Threats to intangible cultural heritage generated by the media can be categorised into three groups with regard to the subject responsible: 1) threats caused by the inappropriate behaviour of the producers of media materials; 2) threats resulting from the content of media messages; 3) threats resulting from media promotion. The examples analysed are media messages describing annual rituals. The present work offers not only the perspective of a researcher, but also that of a journalist who has been writing about intangible cultural heritage issues for the Belarusian media since 2012.

Citizen journalism revisited: A case study of Kenya’s kibera news network

In an evolving media landscape, the prominence and influence of citizen journalism has grown markedly, challenging historical norms and providing alternative narratives. While traditional journalism has been guided by objectivity, autonomy, and ethics, its representation has been questioned, especially in marginalised communities like Kibera, a neighbourhood in Nairobi, Kenya. Scholars have shed light on the transformational role of journalism and the ensuing need for democratisation in its practice, acknowledging the challenge it faces in representing diverse sections of the population. Using Kibera News Network (KNN) as a case study, this mixed methods study looks at the extent to which citizen journalists, despite lacking formal training, uphold and perhaps even redefine traditional journalistic principles. Utilising a qualitative content analysis of KNN videos and in-depth interviews with citizen journalists in Kibera, findings suggest that these citizen journalists exhibit a solid commitment to ethical reporting, emphasising accuracy and fairness, perhaps due to these journalists being citizens in their community—a community that has been marginalised and misrepresented—and thus experience a heightened sense of belonging. KNN citizen journalists also demonstrate high levels of autonomy and journalism ethics and are unburdened by the political and financial pressures that shape some mainstream media narratives. Taken together, findings suggest that the citizen journalist work of KNN contributes to multiple civic outcomes, including neighbourhood belonging and collective efficacy, which leads to civic participation.

Media and the Mediation of Conflict: The Role of Journalism in Indonesian Football Supporter Violence

Football supporter violence in Indonesia is a significant issue exacerbated by sensationalist media coverage that often emphasizes conflict and negative stereotypes. This study analyzes how media framing influences football supporter behavior and public perception, using Galtung's peace journalism theory as a framework. Employing a qualitative research design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and content analysis of media reports. The findings reveal that sensationalist reporting and negative portrayals of supporters contribute to increased tensions and aggressive behaviors. Conversely, though rarely used, peace journalism techniques potentially de-escalate conflicts and promote positive interactions. The study highlights the critical role of cultural and socio-economic factors in shaping media narratives and supporter behavior, suggesting the need for context-sensitive peace journalism. These results advance the theoretical understanding of media framing and conflict resolution and emphasize the importance of ethical journalism. Practical recommendations include adopting balanced reporting practices, collaborative campaigns between media and sports organizations, and further research into the long-term effects of media framing. By promoting responsible journalism, stakeholders can help mitigate violence and foster Indonesia's more inclusive and peaceful football culture.