i hav this stuff from another source. hope it can b some help. you can prob make some sort of intro once you filter out the junk.
Knowledge is power.
The right to information and freedom of expression and criticism is a basic human right of every human being regardless of race, sex, nationality, religion and political alignment.
Whoever holds the power owns the truth.
The first two of the above statements encapsulate the hope of the nineteenth and twentieth century liberal humanists – freedom from the yoke of ignorance was seen to be a revolutionary power in itself and a way to break the oppressive tyranny of the moneyed and educated elite’s control over information.
Ethical codes for journalists clearly define the need for honesty, fairness and courage in reporting and interpreting information. Without professional integrity on the part of individuals and media organisations the profession is at risk of losing credibility. Look up the Australian Journalists’ Code of Ethics (click on Hot Topics and then Code of Ethics). The Society of Professional Journalists ’ site, also has details of what is expected from journalists.
News and current affairs programs draw on an element of trust on the part of the viewer – a tacit understanding that the truth is being told. Broadcasters are generally perceived to be honest, reliable and acting in the public interest: the news gives the facts and current affairs programs investigate the stories behind the news.
In Australia the ABC and SBS are publicly owned and aim to work within the expected ethical boundaries. The commercial stations, however, appear to be serious and objective but are often superficial and/or biased – the symbol without the substance chasing high ratings at the expense of all else. They market themselves as fearless seekers of the truth but, in fact, treat truth as a commodity to be bargained for and sold.
It is a sad ‘truth’, then, that leads us to realise that the third statement is probably ‘true’. In western democracies we have some publicly owned broadcasters, but the majority of outlets are concentrated in the hands of a few media barons who are motivated by commercial imperatives. This often results in slick copy for a wide audience who demonstrate that merely being able to read and write does not necessarily mean being able to discern fact from opinion. (In many countries political power controls the media and truth is manipulated to meet propaganda needs. In Italy the Prime Minister owns the main media organisation in the country and there is a conflict of interest.) In Australia we see a large section of our society that is either unable or unwilling to differentiate between manipulated, distorted information and a documented, corroborated and balanced exploration of an issue. ABC Radio National’s program, The Media Report, canvasses many of these issues. ‘Contradictions of Current Affairs Journalism’, broadcast on 14 March 2002, is an interview with the Four Corners senior reporter, Chris Masters, about investigative journalism; you can access the transcript on ´website
