What are the ethical responsibilities would you aspire for the mass media in the world to have? 
One must strive to be truthful, neutral, objective, must not confuse fact with opinions and beliefs, to be selfless, respectful and sensitive towards reported content, and cannot succumb from other parties (such as government bodies, public opinion etc.).

Is being ethical as a journalist/editor/writer even possible in the media today, is there such a thing as an ethical media?
After a very heated discussion, we have come to the conclusion that although it is difficult, it is possible to be ethical under any circumstances. However, many journalists and news outlets these days no longer prioritise the truth, rather capitalising on monetary gain such as fake news portals that prey and pander to uninformed citizens (further reading: Inside a Fake News Sausage Factory: ‘This Is All About Income’)

Make our voices heard, demanding a higher quality of journalism via boycotts, protests, and consistently challenging media by fact checking and questioning them.

Mentioned about the importance of press freedom – criticized that journalists still have to go to court to ask for permission to release and publish news. 

He applauded the journalist profession as it is a courageous job that demands an extensive amount of sacrifices in order to deliver strictly fair and factual news – he wants journalists to not be one if they are only doing it to take orders and have no sense of conscience – do it for the sake of conveying the right information so that the majority can be informed. 

He mentioned about how extremism in Malaysia have becoming worsened as people couldn’t say something without getting a lot of backlashes – he rejected the notion of Malaysia being more religious – as it contradicts with the concept that religion is supposed to be about tolerance and peace – in this dire state it is most important that a group of people like journalists take charge to do what’s right and ethical for the society – they need journalists and these stories as a form of motivation in the face of injustice and corruption

He believed that we should be guided by an ordinary set of principles of good behavior – being fair – and this should be practiced within the top leadership figures – as they lead the cycle- newspaper is being owned by politicians – if they’re not being fair then editors can’t be fair followed by journalists having no option but to adhere to this set of wrong principles – with this, journalists should be given the freedom to write without being tied down by the higher ups – the higher ups also need to accept these principles to end this vicious cycle 

He suggested that we have an index to measure the yardsticks of media – see the ranking of news outlets in different countries – can differentiate and observe the quality of our news industry – unions and groupings should be active and have pride in their friendship and camaraderie – protest if one of their people were to face injustice 

·         Press freedom

·         Journalist

o   Should be fair

o   Strive for truth

o   Not only concern about earning money

o   Do their job properly so that other people will respect them

·         Future of journalism

·         Media needs more law (enforcement)

·         “Best protection of journalist is themselves”

·         Media convey their audience (Media shapes what people thinks)

·         Need to be aware of the consequences

·         Finding harder to find the truth (Same story, but different version in different media channels) 

1.   The ethical responsibilities that the mass media should have, is to be truthful, fair, standard of decency, sensationalism and authenticity. To report issues and events in a way that reflects the global plurality of views. Reports should be accurate, balance and diverse instead of being filtered. 

2.  It is true that there may be still ethical journalist/editor/writers in the media today but even so the media isn’t ethical, as there is too much corruption in the media. There are some journalists who only care about earning money instead of reporting ethical news. Journalists can’t always guarantee the ‘truth’ but getting the facts right is more important. They should not be emotional, bias and provide their self-thoughts when they are reporting a news.

3.  As the audience, we need to try to make our voices heard by the media instead of complaining blindly.

The ethical responsibilities that I would aspire for the mass media in the world to have is truthfulness. Journalists need to make a commitment to telling the truth. This includes not giving false or made up reports, and telling truthful stories that are not intended to deceive the audience. Second is conflicts of interest. The interests of a corporation that owns a news organization may sometimes be at odds with the nature of the news being reported. Journalists need to be careful not only to portray their parent company in an accurate light but also to give no special favors to companies connected to the organization’ parent company. The last is authenticity and appropriateness of photographs. Photos can be among the most controversial media materials, both because of their disturbing content and because they can be altered with digital editing tools.

 

 After discussion, no, everyone have their own mindset and they just do the things in their way.

 

3. What can we do as the audience to inform the media to strive for higher ethical standards? 

We can try to persuade the other audiences so that we can be together with the media to fight for the higher ethical standards. Since the union can’t do anything, we can also organize some campaign for this issue at least we try our best. We should be peace and be fair to help the media no matter it is win or lose. 

 

With the rise of extremism in our country, it should be within our conscience not to be fed into the vicious cycle of corruption and power control within the media and the higher-ups. Mr. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim had firmly mentioned that the best protection for ourselves (and journalists) is none other than ourselves: the biggest problem that we’re facing is that a huge collective of people in our country is tolerating whatever nonsense that is clouding us (see: corruption). In some cases, undivided toleration is the major reason that we’re being used, manipulated and treated unfairly by the higher ups. The former Minister of Law also criticized the inactive state of Unions and groupings: we cannot be passive in the face of injustice. As the audience and the majority that makes up this cycle, we should always come forward together and protest if there is an act of unfairness and unethical practice within the media context. Majority do have the power to make a change, it’s just that most of us do not have the care to use it. For instance, the recent release of Bersih’s leader and spokesperson, Maria Chin proved that the voice of the majority does matter.  

As what that has been said by Mr. Bob Teoh in the video above, journalists are defined as people who are truthful. Mass media in the world is aspired to have honesty in providing news to the citizens. In addition, they must stay committed in telling the truth. Journalists should be willing to sacrifice themselves to find the truth in every news they provide as to achieve trustworthiness from the society. Besides that, mass media should have fairness in writing the news as it is important because there a lot of sides to every story. Journalists have to explore each sides of the stories to provide accurate information on each news that they produce as to  avoid from affecting anyone’s emotions.

It is definitely possible for an ethical media. It all comes down to the journalists’ or writers’ moral compass. It is a personal choice to be a “story-teller” that portrays the truth or a skewed image of it. The media holds the force which shapes the public opinion, members of the media must be aware of their responsibility in what is being reported to the public. The media has such a strong ability to change the perceptions of the public, breaking the wall of stereotypes. Media is education and it is freedom. Is there such a thing as an ethical media? Well, it’s a no and a yes. The current media are ethical to an extent. There are still truths in the stories that are being told in the media. Then again, how are we to know how a media company is reporting the truth or not. Also, biased views of a media company or channel tend to occur within our media. It is frequent that multiple news channels are reporting the same piece of story with different views or perspectives. Honesty is a vital factor in journalism, respect your readers and grasp the importance of the power you hold. As said by journalist Martin Bell, write what you know to be true, not what you believe to be true.

 

In this video, we can learn that our country have faced serious flaws and our freedom has been restricted. From Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s speech, he implies that the laws in Malaysia are becoming so restrictive and opinionated. For instances, he reinforces the significances of journalism in Malaysia that every journalist requires a permission before publishing it to public. He advices that journalists should never simply take orders because the purpose of a journalist is to convey an accurate message to the audience and inform the right news to the community. From Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s perspective, we are living in a time of great extremism and our society is heading for the worst. He also implies that our religions are becoming so extreme that we are evolving into super religious people. In Malaysia, our lifestyles are very sensitive and everything has to go by the laws and regulations that were subordinated by the government. He suggests that our country needs the right kind of journalist to reduce extremism issues in Malaysia. Journalists should be guided by the principles of good behavior and it needs to adequate fairness. Why fairness? Because our top leadership does not understand the definition of fairness. Needless to say that the top leadership does not care to implement the citizens about fairness. When fairness is enforced there will be less corruptions and extremism in our society. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim advices all journalists to address current problems to the society and move forward. To be a journalist they need to have pride and confidence in order to activate protection in our society.

What are the ethical responsibilities would you aspire for the mass media in the world to have?

 -As for journalist, they have to preserve their reputation, image.

 -Including real news with actual facts.

 -Differentiate between what is right and what’s wrong and should be prevented.

 -Take risks

- Be proud and confident of what you do

- Be truthful to yourself, on deciding what occupation you decide to pursue in the future.

-Choice, don’t be overly- restrictive.

 

 

Yes, it is always possible that journalists should be ethical in the media today. However, there is a slight lack in media ethics as a result of overly restrictive laws have somehow “conquered” the media.

 
What can we do as the audience to inform the media to strive for higher ethical standards? 

 

As audience, we should convince the media to stop politicizing news because it fuels in hatred and increase extremism. Audience should convince the media to stop making a fuss on small issues that are not relatable. 

In this video, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim sheds light on the issues faced in the modern media regarding conflicts between religions. He discusses solutions that can be done to improve the issues about religion, race and ethnicity. 

 

 

Always provide facts and write something that is true , everybody in this world can become a journalist but you have to come up with

your own content and not take it from somewhere else. Journalists also have to be responsible for the content they put up.

The people in the video also said be truthful in whatever you write and respect the people who reads your content.

 

 

Always be truthful in whatever you write and be accurate in the subject/topic you are about to write. Never be racist and never ever stereotype individuals or groups. Never take credit for something you did not come up with yourself because that is plagiarism.

 

 

Being a journalist in general in an exciting but strenuous job. To be an ethical journalist in this day and age is not impossible, but it’s not easy. Whether there is such a thing as an ethical media still remains unclear. The media only puts out what they want their audience to see – looks can be deceiving. 

 

 

The ethical guidelines provided for journalists are interestingly almost perfect. However, these are ethical guidelines and not rules. Therefore, a code of ethics may be followed by those journalists that choose to do so, however those that don’t want to may not because these guidelines aren’t legally bided so there wouldn’t be any legal consequences. The problem with journalism nowadays is a lack of acceptable morality amongst those that provide essential information. A strong sense of morality in everyone shall strengthen the ethics of those journalists , hence they would have the courage to provide the truth to the general public without hesitation. 

The video is about how he believes journalism requires fairness. He believes that leaders, must be fair because they are the one's who own the media, if the leaders aren't fair how are the journalists and editors going to be fair?If the media is guided by ordinary principals, they would be more practical, more protective and possibly have less corruption. He would also like to propose our media to have an index of dispute. Finally, he claims that by defending yourself first, you would be able to gain protection, ; and journalists should treasure journalism by doing what's best for the country and being true to it.

Mr. Bob Teoh, a senior feature writer for Sin Chew Daily
Mr. Bob Teoh speaks about how journalist have an obligations to write the truth. They have to exercise conscience clause and this is guided by ethics which is considered to be the framework of journalism. Besides that, he talks about how there are laws to protect the journalists from inappropriate behavior ethics and some laws are not legally blinding. Code of ethics are part of employment contract if journalists commit crime may be fined.

Highlights from the International Communications Forum ICF 2014 - Media Ethics in a Changing World
There are many topics discussed, some including
-Journalist needs to write about what is true and not what they believe to be true.
-  Everything is subjective, so journalist just needs to be honest and respect their readers.
- Convey things that are true, do not sensationalize things just because it will gain a bigger audience.
- Journalist has to be aware of things, because it is hard to predict the truth.
- It is up to the journalist to be responsible for their consequences, and to have a sense between right and wrong. 

What are the ethical responsibilities would you aspire for the mass media in the world to have?
To be fair and honest. Both the government and journalist should practice responsibility to what they write they say in the media.
The journalists should accept the consequences when they are being charged with something. Other than that, journalists should put their emotional thoughts aside and be objective when it comes to their jobs.
Lastly, they shouldn't sensationalize stories just to get more readers because it goes against the code of ethics.

Is being ethical as a journalist/editor/writer even possible in the media today, is there such a thing as an ethical media?
There is such thing as an ethical media, but it is dying. Being ethical is very much possible in media today because being ethical comes from how we embrace and practice the code of ethics.

What can we do as the audience to inform the media to strive for higher ethical standards?
We as audiences should not buy into sensationalized piece of information. We shouldn't support these types of news companies by spreading unethical pieces of work. As consumers should do background research beforehand. Besides that, educate both the public and the journalist of the code of ethics.
Malaysians are reaching towards extremism, where topics about religion and race are considered to be very sensitive/offensive, even if it was meant for education. We should understand what is wrong and what is right in what is presented to us,  at least until the media itself understands how unethical the practice is for a country which deserves to be in the first world league.

- Be honest , do not lie and tells society the truth
- Do not manipulate the story or create your own story for whatever reasons.
- Do not be selfish. Have that sense of humane
- Willing to take risks in order to serve the best/accurate information to society
- Able to differentiate between facts and their own opinions/beliefs

Is being ethical as a journalist/editor/writer even possible in the media today, is there such a thing as an ethical media?
Every medium is biased when delivering news which makes it impossible for the newsmakers to be ethical. In order for the news to be delivered to the masses it has to go to gatekeepers and these gatekeepers would have to see if it matches the channel because they cannot just contradict what they’ve put up and if that happen the medium will lose its reliability to the masses. Therefore even if its false as long as it does not contradict they would put it up. For instance Recently Aleppo was being controlled by the syrian army, if we go through different medium we will hear in accurate stories some say this some say that different stories that we won't be able to identify which is true.

What can we do as the audience to inform the media to strive for higher ethical standards?
Audience should cooperate and work together, be fair and help each other such as together do some campaign that can get attention. So that the voices of the audience can be heard to strive for higher ethical standards.   

He admires journalists but he did not had the skill to be a journalist but became a lawyer instead. He said in the video that the best protection for journalists are themselves. He believes that the leaders should implement fairness in all their doings because leadership principles should start from the top. He also stated that in his perspective, he thinks that higher-ups must accept the principles and right values for the best of the country. He also stated how society should be guided by ordinarily principles of good behavior. He as well emphasised that we should have an index in the country. He would like to suggest to have some pride in one own’s work in between groups and unions. He also said that we must treasure jounalism as a profession, to be truthful to one’s ownself, for the best of the people as well as the country. “If you like it, you must want to do it” –Mr Datuk Zaid Ibrahim

 

Highlights of Mr Bob Teoh Speaks on Media Ethics

 

Mr Bob Teoh talks about how journalists have commitments to compose the truth. They need to practice conscience clause and this is guided by ethics which is thought to be the structure of news coverage. Other than that, he discusses how there are laws to shield the writers from improper conduct ethics and a few laws that are not lawfully blinding. Code of ethics are a piece of business contract if journalists carry out wrongdoings that they might be fined.

 

Highlights on Media Ethics In A Changing World – International Communications Forum ICF 2014

 

The bringing news is not the same as journalism. Is there a certain truth that people care to support or manipulate? The ethics say that the journalism should write what is true and not what they think is true. For e.g. in Iraq, we often hear about violence, but we don’t know about the story. They immense enthusiasm for the vibrant democracy, which is one of the most lively and inspirational democracies in the world and yet only the stories of the dark side has been told. People should learn about being honest and respect the readers. Education as well as freedom, at the end of the day, the media is taking masses down the street, and they are getting killed and are killing each other in the name of religion democracy and the name of socialism and communism because of how the media is conveyed. The responsibility of the media is in conflicts, where each of the report brings consequences. Just like how we only see the front side of the story and we thought that’s what happened, but the truth is - we don’t know the other side of the real story.

  

Ethical responsibilities would you aspire for the mass media in the world to have?

 

Some of the ethical responsibilities that we as a group, aspire mass media in the world to have would be the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, as well as fairness. This is because we want newsworthy information that are the truth.

 

Is being ethical as a journalist/editor/writer even possible in the media today, is there such a thing as an ethical media?

 

At first, it was a disagreement between the 4 of us because one in the group believed it was a no to the question because he believes that journalists who try to be ethical and write about the truth will be shut up by the people who are more powerful than them. But after several discussions on whether a not a journalist/editor/writer can be ethical in the media today, we came to a conclusion that as long as one holds on to their principles to always only state the truth, to be truthful to not only themselves and their profession, but also to the people of the country as well as the best for the country. Therefore, we believe that there is such a thing as an ethical media as long as they stay true to themselves.

 

What can we do as the audience to inform the media to strive for higher ethical standards?

 

We can show them by not only supporting them by reading or watching their work, we can also make our voices heard by demanding the truth to be heard. As the consumers of their work, we can demand what we want to see, we should make our voices count instead of complaining blindly. Always remember, Peace will win, Fear will lose. Never fear to voice out what you know is ethical to be done, each voice counts.

 

The next video is from Mr Bob Teoh. He says that journalism is driven forward with technology but it does not define journalism. He also mention that conscience should be part of the journalism value. They must have the right to work according to their ethical. Plagiarism is not acceptable in journalism due to the fact that they can be dismiss out of the field in not abiding the rules. Other than that, he says that journalism in our country should be protected just like journalist in other country.   

 

The last video is about media ethics in a changing world. From the international communications forum, these are the highlights of what they mention and debate. One of them mention that the news have its own version of story on the same topic; Syria case. Like CNN deliver its own version of news, Al Jazeera deliver its own version of news and Al Arabia as well. What the speaker tried to in international communication forum in media community is that which story is the presenting a true information. The news and media can be confusing with what they trying to say.

 

Like a lot of speaker from all of the video, the ethical responsibilities that they should set are telling the truth. Always be truth with the information that they learned and gathered. Never deliver the information in a way that satisfied other groups like government expectation, or make the new sensationalize in order to gain audience. Being truthful is important so everyone could know the right story and information.

Its true that in a lot of media industry they can be biased and sadly gives a not very accurate information due to the higher ups not agreeing for the original story. Some may stay classic and project the real truthful story. We believe that many have speak up of the important of being ethical and therefore changes for goods are still possible. Majority of media still believe that enforcing the ethical concept are still important as what right and wrong are something that people seek for the most.

 

Observe how other country portray their news. We can improve the media by learning from others of what our media should change and what they can do to grow into a better one. Truth is what audience want and always seek for. 

 

Also we should also be aware of how every news industry has their own way of presenting their news and information. Avoid the sensationalize new, and focus on the one that speaks truth by giving a careful observation of every news.