Name: Wajeeha Ehsan

Roll No: CE590873

Course: Media Ethics & Laws-II (6604)

ASSIGNMENT NO. 2
Q. 1 Discuss print media ethics in reporting news stories, writings editorial
and other pieces of journalism.
Ans:Print Media Ethics:
Journalistic ethics are the common values that guide
reporters. They lay out both the aspirations and obligations that journalists,
editors, and others working in the field should follow to execute their work
responsibly.
Journalism ethics have evolved over time. Most news organizations have their own
written codes of ethics, as do professional membership bodies. If a professional
journalist or news organization transgresses these ethical standards, they will lose
credibility.

Print media is the form of media that disseminate printed matter, it includes
newspaper and magazines Journalists have the power to make or break event, a
person or even institutions, hence it is highly imperative that these media follow strict
codes of ethics and exercise this power judiciously. There are five core principles of
journalism and that are journalists first obligation is the truth, second, journalism
practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover, third- journalism
must serve as an independent monitor of power fourth journalists must be allowed to
exercise their personal conscience and lastly journalism must provide a forum for
public criticism and compromise. The principles of journalistic codes of ethics are
designed as guides through numerous difficulties such as conflicts of interest, to
assist journalists in dealing with ethical dilemmas. Journalism is guided five
important values including journalists should work hard to try to gather all the facts In
this research article I have journalists should work hard to try to gather all the facts In
this research article I have tried to find out some of these code of ethics and its
importance I think in addition to codes of ethics there should be self regulation.
The principles of journalistic codes of ethics are designed as guides through
numerous difficulties, such as conflicts of interest, to assist journalists in dealing with
ethical dilemmas. The codes and canons provide journalists with a framework for self
monitoring and self-correction. Journalism is guided by five important values. The
first is honesty: a journalist should not make up news or share news that give off
wrong impressions. The second is independence: a journalist should avoid topics
they have an interest in. The third is fairness: a journalist should not tell the truth if it
is with bad intentions. The fourth is productiveness: a journalist should work hard to
try to gather all the facts.

There are several key ethical standards that appear across global news
organizations. At the highest level, they call on journalists to seek the truth, act in the
public interest, and minimize harm.
1.Honesty:
Journalists have an obligation to seek out the truth and report it as
accurately as possible. This requires diligence: this means making every effort to
seek out all the facts relevant to a story. Journalists should also corroborate any
information with multiple sources.

2.Independence:
Journalists should avoid taking political sides and should not act on
behalf of special interest groups. Any political affiliations or financial investments that
might constitute a conflict of interest with the subject they are writing about should be
declared to editors and readers. Some organizations characterize this principle as
“objectivity,” while others, especially non-profit civic journalism projects, reject this
term, as they position themselves explicitly on the side of public interest.
3.Fairness:
In addition to being independent, journalists should show impartiality and
balance in their reporting. Most news stories have more than one side, and
journalists should capture this. That said, they should not place two different
perspectives on equal footing where one is unsupported by evidence. The exception
to the impartiality rule is opinion writing, as well as “gonzo” journalism and creative
nonfiction.
4.Public accountability:
News organizations should listen to their audience. To enable
the public to hold them accountable, journalists should write under their own bylines
and accept responsibility for their words. When news outlets publish factual errors,
they need to issue a correction.

5.Harm minimization:
Not every fact that can be published should be published. If the
amount of harm that could come to private individuals—particularly children—as a
result of disclosure exceeds the public good that would come of it, then news outlets
might choose not to publish the story. This is less of a consideration when it comes
to public figures. It is huge, however, in matters of national security, where lives
could be on the line.
6.Avoiding libel:
This is a legal as well as a moral imperative for journalists.
Journalists cannot print false statements that damage a person’s reputation. In most
jurisdictions, true statements cannot be libelous, so journalists can protect
themselves by rigorously checking facts.
Proper attribution. Journalists must never plagiarise. If they use information from
another media outlet or journalist, they need to attribute it to them.
Conclusion:
Ethics are important in Journalism because they create guidelines for
journalists to follow that help people from feeling unequal or outcasted. They're also
important in making sure that media stays true and further helps journalists maintain
a sense of equality.
Q. 2 How can code of ethics be practiced in news and current affair programs.
Discuss.
Ans:Ethics in News &Current Affairs:
Broadly, the key guiding professional and
ethical values of news journalism are a commitment to: accuracy, fairness,
balance and impartiality. The news media in most contexts, especially where it
is not state controlled or heavily influenced, usually does not see itself as
having a ‘proposition’ or as being aligned to any particular social or political
cause. The values of neutrality, autonomy and freedom should be central to
editorial decision-making. Media workers expect to be approached, less on the
basis of the positive “moral” impact that the story may have on society, and
rather on the basis of a potential story with a strong ‘news value’.

Media is acting as a bridge between the state and public. It plays a role of
informer, motivator or leader for healthy democracy at all levels. Ethics are the
inner superintendent decent moralities, ideals and opinions that people use to
analyses or interpret a situation and then decide what is the right way to
behave. It is free to discharge their duties in the society but media needs to
follow ethics in collecting and disseminating the news by ensuring objectivity
and fairness in reporting of information to society. Media Ethics is concerned
with how a moral media person should behave. The media ethics are values
like trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, truth and self-restraint to
be practiced by the media people voluntarily, to preserve and promote the trust
of the people and to maintain their own credibility and not betray the faith and
confidence of the people. Regular editorial meetings usually determine which
news stories should be covered under tight deadlines and news journalists may
 then have only very limited time to find substantiating information and to set up
interviews and debates. Appropriate planning is necessary to design
interventions for the news media, including those that can respond to the
shorter-term, ad-hoc and often hectic news cycle needs, as well as, those that
can contribute to a longer-term change through capacity-building of the
organizations and its personnel.

Establishing relationships with news media producers to share findings on

content analysis that has been undertaken; identify challenges to improved
reporting; and develop a plan to support longer-term changes (e.g. forging
relationships with issue experts to review content before it is published; provide
ongoing gender training for journalists; assisting with the production of gender-
sensitive policies and content guidelines, etc.)
Developing contacts at the target media outlets as early as possible and meet
them at their convenience. Google News, Twitter and other social media
provide useful information about which journalists work where and what they
are interested in.
Learning the schedules and timelines for news production and advocating for
the inclusion of specific stories in the media outlets’ planning diaries can help.
Practitioners can liaise with existing media focal points or media expert within or
outside their organisation on an ongoing basis or can develop media contact in
advance of specific events or days of significance, such as the International
Women’s Day (8th March)

Q. 3 Describe the different aspects of ethics in public relations.

Ans:Ethics in Public Relations.
Public relations ethics can be defined as “the application
of knowledge, understanding and reasoning to questions of right or wrong
behavior in the professional practice of public relations. The practice of public
relations is all about earning credibility. Credibility in turn, begins with telling the
truth. Public relations, then, must be based on ‘doing the right thing ‘ in other
 words acting ethically.A public relations professional must govern their behavior
according to industry best practices. PR professionals need to remain within
ethical boundaries as they share information with the masses and manage the
brand image of their respective clients. Learn more about ethical issues that
surround the PR profession.
Public relations professionals have the power to sway and alter public
opinions and therefore must consider the implications of their influential
messages on others. As the saying goes, with great power comes great
responsibility.

Ethics is the study of what constitutes right or wrong, or good or bad human
behavior. More precisely, „it is set of criteria by which the decisions are being
made about what is wrong“. Through the centuries many different views about
ethics were made. Utilitarians, for instance, take position that the ethical act is
one that produces the greatest possible balance of good over bad for anyone
affected.
PR is often seen as a profession that is always working behind the scenes,
gliding in and out troubled situations. But PR is also often considered to be a
corporate conscience which fits well with the business ethics of social
responsibility. The PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) developed its
code of professional standards for the practice of PR to meet three goals:
• to provide behavioral guidelines to its members
• to educate management on public relations standards
Ethics need to have main role in communication because unethical
communications are not as obvious as false advertising. Using words in certain
way good communicator can affect other, change their expectation and
behavior. Good strategies can create a powerful message that tells people to
take action. Skills and knowledge as that are very powerful and easy to
abuse8 . The power of PR to shape opinions is one of the most compelling
reasons to consider our duties to society, and to take care not to abuse that
power by dishonest use of manipulation. PR shelter an organization’s
reputation and are, at the same time, its conscience. It is a very powerful
position that they hold and also face different challenges as misleading
information, influence of management actions, and promotion of inferior
products, discrimination or political influence. The definition itself of what Public
Relation Ethics are should be: the knowledge, understanding and reasoning to
questions of right or wrong behavior in the professional practice of public
relations.

Almost any religion or society has a set of rules, codes by which they live and
believe in. Most of professional organizations have their internal codes of
ethics. PR and communications organizations are no different. The most useful
way of looking at a code of ethics is as a professions contract with the society it
serves rather than, as some people may like to believe, a cook book to thumb
through when looking for the answer to a dilemma12. Codes of ethic should set
members apart from others, who may purport to provide similar services to the
public, by establishing a set of principles by which to work. The code makes a
kind of promise about what behaviour can be expected. In literature there are
some arguments that say organizations shouldn’t set any special codes of
ethics apart from moral guides given within society. Also, most of the
practitioners consider codes as merely minimum standards they need to follow
but nobody actually tries to continually further improve the standards. Some go
even further and say that ethical codes in PR were created only to
professionalize an unprofessional occupation. However, the field of PR is not
more ethical because it has codes of ethics, but in a way it should serve as a
tool to promote discussion of ethics and to improve how it is being dealt with the
ethical questions s and grey areas that are encountered as someone is
performing his work.
Public relations professionals encounter ethical problems as individuals who
make decisions about their professional lives. They also serve as ethical
counselors to organizations, a role in which they help organizations behave in
ethical, responsible, and sustainable ways. This introduction defines ethics and
social responsibility and discusses the possibilities and obstacles that public
relations professionals face in the role of ethical counselor. Seven research
problems in public relations are discussed : personal ethical decisions ;
relationships with clients and other practitioners ; loyalty to organizations,
publics, and society ; choice of a client or organization, advocate and counselor
roles, secrecy and openness, and digital media. The introduction ends with a
discussion of the need for ethical theories of public relations and describes
several promising theories. In the minds of most people, public relations
probably is considered to be inherently unethical. And, to be honest, a great
deal of public relations practice is unethical. However, to public relations
theorists, public relations is inherently about ethics, social responsibility, and
sustainability. For public relations professionals to serve as ethics counselors
for client organizations, it is necessary to address the ethics and social
responsibility of public relations as it is currently practiced and to incorporate
ethics and social responsibility into our theories of how public relations should
be practiced.

Before discussing problems of ethics and social responsibility in public

relations, we need to define these two key terms. Of the two terms, ethics is
the broader one because the question of what is socially responsible or
irresponsible for an organization is an ethical question. Not all ethical questions
in public relations are related to social responsibility, however. The term ethics
often is used interchangeably with morals and values because ethical questions
generally ask what is morally right or what should be valued. Public relations
practitioners confront a number of personal ethical decisions in their work. They
may be tempted to do insider trading, to provide free passes for plays or
sporting events to journalists, to take or receive gifts, or to accept or offer
bribes. They may divulge confidential information to a competitor, pad an
expense account, falsify a time report, conceal errors, lie, or selectively report
research results. Ethical rules may help practitioners solve these problems, and
professionals who are more ethical as individuals generally provide better
ethical advice to their organizations as counselors. In spite of the great attention
paid to personal ethics in the public relations literature, however, these
problems, although important, are not the most central ethical questions for the
public relations profession. Public relations professionals also confront ethical
problems in their relationships with other practitioners. For example,
practitioners compete with other practitioners for clients, yet professional codes
of ethics prohibit them from intentionally damaging the reputations of other
practitioners. Professional codes also point out that professionals damage the
reputation of other public relations people when they are unethical. Some codes
also mandate that practitioners report the ethical shortcomings of others to
review boards. Many practitioners also face ethical dilemmas when they interact
with their superiors and colleagues in their own organizations. Finally, the
problems of discrimination against women and minorities in public relations fit
into this category. Problems of personal ethics and professional relationships
 dominate much of the discussion of ethics in public relations. Although these
first two sets of problems affect public relations practice, they do not address
the fundamental question of how public relations can be an ethical conscience
for an organization nor how public relations can overcome the stigma that most
people attach to the profession. The next problems pertain to these
fundamental questions.

In the 21st Century, public relations practitioners have embraced social and
other digital media as primary communication tools for their work. Indeed, the
importance of this research problem is evident in the attention given to it by
authors in this special issue. Practitioners typically claim that digital media have
changed everything about how they do public relations work. An important
challenge for public relations theorists and researchers in the coming years,
therefore, is to develop ethical theories of public relations that provide principles
that professionals can use as ethics counselors at the organizational level. An
important challenge for public relations educators is to incorporate such
theories into academic curricula. And, an important challenge for public
relations associations is to teach these principles to practitioners who have not
learned them as part of their educational background in continuing education
seminars and programs.

Conclusion:
It is necessary for a PR professional to be aware of ethical problems
that may be encountered in the PR business as well as to be ready to cope with
the dilemmas and find the best solution for the parties involved. Every
profession has its own Code of Behaviour, also known as professional
standards while PR organizations and associations have Ethical Codes, some
of which are really good examples of how organizations care that their
profession is considered trustworthy in the eyes of public. Even with such
detailed help one is never too sure what is the right step to do, so every
individual has to decide about his/her own actions and take the consequences
as they come.
Q. 4 How can advertising affect the society? Discuss with examples.
Ans:Role of Advertising in Society:
Advertising has brought in an advanced manner
of building awareness about any product or a service in the society. It has
enabled the consumers to have knowledge about the service or the product
before making any purchase. Advertising has grown on the levels of creativity
and innovation. The role of advertising in a society has been a subject of much
debate. Advertising campaigns may be useful for consumers from the point of
view of dissemination of information. Such information is necessary when
buyers have to make a choice from the various products and services or from
the different brands of a product.

Advertising is paid, nonpersonal communication that is designed to

communicate in a creative manner, through the use of mass or information-
directed media, the nature of products, services, and ideas. It is a form of
persuasive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and
services that serves the objectives determined by the advertiser. Advertising
may influence consumers in many different ways, but the primary goal of
advertising is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to an
advertisement will behave or believe as the advertiser wishes. Thus, the
ultimate objective of advertising is to sell things persuasively and creatively.
Advertising is used by commercial firms trying to sell products and services; by
politicians and political interest groups to sell ideas or persuade voters; by not-
for-profit organizations to raise funds, solicit volunteers, or influence the actions
of viewers; and by governments seeking to encourage or discourage particular
activities, such a wearing seatbelts, participating in the census, or ceasing to
smoke. The forms that advertising takes and the media in which advertisements
appear are as varied as the advertisers themselves and the messages that they
wish to deliver.

Although the primary objective of advertising is to persuade, it may achieve

this objective in many different ways. An important function of advertising is the
identification function, that is, to identify a product and differentiate it from
others; this creates an awareness of the product and provides a basis for
consumers to choose the advertised product over other products. Another
function of advertising is to communicate information about the product, its
attributes, and its location of sale; this is the information function. The third
function of advertising is to induce consumers to try new products and to
suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses; this is the persuasion
function.

The identification function of advertising includes the ability of advertising to

differentiate a product so that it has its own unique identity or personality.
Advertising is a form of communication. Like all forms of communication, it has
many different effects and these effects are often related to one another. The
 message in an advertisement, no matter how strong and persuasive, will have
no effect if the consumer does not see the advertisement or pay attention to it.

The following are some of the positive Social effects of Advertisements.

1. Informed Society:
Through advertisements, the society is informed of various
products, their uses, best bargains, safe handling of dangerous goods, effective
use of scarce resources like petroleum and electricity, technological advances,
etc. But for advertising, the society would have remained a less informed one.
2. Rights of Consumers:
The rights of consumers are made aware through
advertisements only. The spread of consumerism and awareness of consumer
rights are also due to advertisements.
3. New ideas:
Generally, people are traditional. They should be informed of the
development of latest technology. Creative advertisements render an effective
service here. For example, the sex of the newborn baby is determined by
father’s chromosome and not of the mother’s. An effective advertisement would
certainly help in dispelling the myth that it is the female who is responsible in
sex determination of a new born.
4. Advertisements contribute to creativity of people:
Look at certain advertisements.
Your bathroom can be a glamour-room is presented by the Parry’s sanitary
ware. Perhaps, next to nature, the art of advertising is more creative is
anybody’s knowledge.
5. Environmental protection:
Environmental protection is the need of the hour. The
brutal onslaught on nature by indiscriminate felling of trees, letting off untreated
industrial effluents into the open, growing urbanization and consequent
burgeoning urban slums, etc., are brought to the knowledge of people and an
awareness is created against environmental degradation.For example, the
Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board has launched an effective campaign
highlighting against the indiscriminate use and burning of plastics. Such
messages are brought to the notice of people through advertising.
6. Social changes:
Social changes like accepting women as equals, empowerment of
women, concern for the girl child and curbs on female infanticide, developing
 public opinion against child labor, etc., are created through advertisements
only.

7. Quality consciousness:
Concern for quality of a product, process, or even life,
work, education and, investment etc., is promoted through advertisements.
8. Promotion of national interest:
National interest ls promoted through
advertisements as well. Complying with tax laws, complimenting export
achievement, promotion of tourism, protection of monuments, creating political
awareness of citizens, etc., are pursued through advertisements.

Q. 5 Critically analyze the media freedom and responsibilities.

Ans:Media Freedom & Responsibilities:

Freedom of the press or freedom of the
media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through
various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published
materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely. Such freedom
implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state; its preservation
may be sought through constitution or other legal protection and security. The
term media freedom extends the traditional idea of the freedom of the press to
electronic media, such as radio, television, and the Internet. The term
acknowledges that the media in modern societies consist of more than print
sources. Media freedom is generally held to be necessary for democratic
societies. Individuals generally cannot get sufficient information on their own to
make informed decisions on public matters, so they rely on media to provide
information. In addition, the media are an outlet for public discussion and
opinion and generally fulfill the functions of seeking truth, educating the public,
and serving as a watchdog over government.
 Free media help ensure that the democratic principle of publicity—sometimes
referred to as transparency—is satisfied. Publicity refers to making information
about the operations of government public and provides the opportunity for
public debate and scrutiny of matters of public concern. Many think that this
function of the media prevents and corrects abuses of power. Conversely, the
media provide information about citizen opinion and concerns to political
leaders and others in power. Media freedom, and its protection of the principles
of publicity, can be curtailed both by excessive government control and
regulation and by market forces and practices. Other influences that can reduce
the effectiveness of media are increases in elite or private modes of
communication that evade public scrutiny, the reduced literacy of consumers of
media, and lack of access to media for use by the public.
Media freedom implies media responsibility and accountability. If free media
are going to fulfill their vital functions, then the public needs assurance that the
media are seeking the truth and acting to guard the public interest. Government
regulations on media seek to ensure that media act within the parameters of
public interest. However, many argue that all or many government regulations
interfere with media freedom and violate the public’s right to choose and own
media sources. On the other hand, government regulations may be necessary
to control corporate media outlets that dominate the public’s access to
information.

New forms of media, particularly the Internet, create more issues in media
freedom. Many think that these new, unregulated outlets for public discussion are
democratizing public access to media and increasing participation in public debate.
Others worry that unregulated channels of communication not subject to editorial
review will increase false information and potentially skew public opinion. Further,
many new forms of media are international in character and beyond the control of
any one political society.
Press freedom has never been consistent in Pakistan. Different regimes used
legal and constitutional means to control the press from public debate and
criticism. In it sixty years of history, Pakistan has been ruled by military more
than the civilian. Press in Pakistan usually faces threats, violence, economic
pressure, etc. The country's law on blasphemy has been used against
journalists. Poor literacy, urban orientation of the press, and the high price of
newspapers are detrimental factors for the under development of print media in
Pakistan. Beside these barricades, one can now easily notice a shift from the
centralized broadcasting to an open competition broadcast system in Pakistan,
enabling the audience to enjoy more power of selective exposure. All
governments including the military say high about the press freedom but often
thing the other way round when the press criticizes the government.

A large part of the media sector in Pakistan is facing serious threats as the
government has shown increasing intolerance to critical journalism and as
radical political actors regularly attack media outlets and journalists. The armed
forces have also played a key role in stifling press freedom in the country.
Cases of abduction, physical attacks, and torture of journalists have become
commonplace. Also disturbing is the nationwide intimidation of newspaper
distributors, apparently intended to disrupt the circulation of newspapers like
Dawn, Jang, and The News. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority (PEMRA) has adopted similar tactics to limit independent news
coverage by cable operators news channels such as GEO TV and Dawn News
are being regularly blocked from reaching audiences. The newspaper
summarized the complex challenges facing the news media with these words:
“Steadily growing manipulation of the media by a coarsening regulatory regime,
driven by political compulsions of the deep state, is robbing the media of its
integrity and, hence, audiences and influence. A tottering economy is the bitter
icing on this crumbling cake. The valour and vivaciousness that characterized
the media’s ability to influence independent news’ agendas is gone and its
voice is stuttering.”
 The new social media rules have been criticized as a “threat of censorship,
internet surveillance and morality policing”, as they ban online dissemination of
“immoral and obscene content” as well as content that goes “against Pakistan’s
cultural and moral trends”.
The media makes up one of the most important mediation institutions in a
State of law. To maintain harmonious relationships between the citizens and the
leaders of a given society, the media must be free from economic and political
interference. However, the relationships between the media and politics often
denote either contradictions between the two or submission of the media to
politics. In a state of law, contradictory ideas are key to collective deliberation.
In contrast, an autocratic regime does not allow debates and public discussion
when making decisions that concern its citizens. Despite the efforts made by
human rights organizations and media associations, the challenge of media
independence and freedom remains a long journey. In societies shaped by
class struggles, the mainstream media make up the voice of the ruling class.
Thus, the link between media groups and capital endangers the media's
editorial freedom. Also, alternative media which often lack financial resources,
fail to survive. In a country where the State is more powerful than the political
ruler, freedom and independence of the mediation institutions are not
endangered. In contrast, in a country where the ruler is more powerful than the
State, the media falls under the control of political power.