p2pnet.net News View:- I was reading Bill Evans’ piece on “journalism by press release” and thought you might be interested in this:

For all of us out there who are sick of reading regurgitated press releases in the `always reliable` and `scrupulously fair` mainstream media, be aware that contrary to what you might think, journalists do have access to a Code of Ethics.

Head over to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics page for a look at what these guys are supposed to be doing in, “seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues”.

Some of my favourites include:

• Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error.
• Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing. (A big hello to Jennifer Yu at New Century Media).
• Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.
• Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
• Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.

My all-time favourite, however, is, “Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media.”

Now, here’s a fun game we can all play.

Whenever you see or hear a “news article” from a “reputable” source that’s obviously one sided (you know, quoting the BSA “statistics” on piracy, giving the RIAA or MPAA a free soapbox, etc) fire off one of these pre-written emails. Just copy and paste. And if you get really good at this, you might be able to get a job as an investigative reporter!

Here we go:

Greetings Friend/Sir/Madam

I took exception with your recent report on [--------------insert description of story here].

In my view, it was seriously unbalanced, giving more coverage to one party/side of the argument than the other. Nor did it mention/explain the motives/interests of the party which received a disproportionate share of the coverage.

I hope that in the future, your publication/station/web site will present a more unbiased coverage of the issues involved in the stories you cover than it does at present.

If the quality of reporting does not rise above the copy/paste nature your publication/station/web site has used in the past, I will be forced to stop using your publication/station/web site as a reliable source of news and will cancel my subscription (if I have one) and encourage others to do the same.

Yours faithfully,

(PS – The SPJ’s Code of Ethics is a voluntary standard. The challenge for a professional journalist is: can he or she live up to it?)

Alex H, p2pnet – Sydney, Australia
[Alex is operations manager for an ATM (automatic teller machine) supplier and specialises in infrastructure development and maintenance, and logistics. He`s also an[other] active member of the Shareaza community.]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2005 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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