Accountability and Responsibility in Journalism

[admin]

We are looking for at least 5 volunteers who understand the project and could work with us on the plans. This forum will have all the discussions regarding this project. Please read on....

The state of Journalism today is similar to that described by the Irish poet Edward Eggleston as “Organized gossip”. It reports everything that people would be interested in rather than everything they should know.

Since it has become a mammoth industry with turnovers running into hundreds of crores, it is dominated by the old economic principle of demand and supply. However, basic duties such as reporting truth and informing people about both the sides of the coin are something that cannot be compromised at any cost.

Journalists have to be honest fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information; ensuring accuracy, objectivity, balance and fairness. A Journalist should be free of any obligations, whether political or corporate.. Speaking of corporations, there is no denying that Journalism and reporting like most other professions need significant capital inputs and sound business sense to survive. But, this is a profession where the stakes are much higher because it is a profession which has the power to create opinions and to shape a nation’s present and its future. Journalists must maintain dignity in expression and be sensitive while reporting on critical issues.

They should be accountable to their audience as well as to each other. Moreover, Journalists should have a commitment to promptly correct any mistakes or expose unethical practices that they may come across.
It is important to keep Journalism independent yet honest and responsible. Attempts at self-regulation do not appear to have been very successful.

We need to start with small steps like putting draft proposals on Journalism’s best practices out in the public domain on the internet to spark discussions. These discussions could be organized by way of internet polls as well as by public events like discussion panels with eminent Journalists and known public figures. We need to research best practices in journalism in other democratic countries and create proposals which are simple to understand and yet broad enough to be effective. We will also need volunteers to engineer enough buzz on these issues in the Journalist community and the public to bring about meaningful debate at local and national level.

[raj_rdoshi]

Are there volunteers working on this project? There haven't been any topics posted.