Ethics of Al-Jazeera
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Transcript of Ethics of Al-Jazeera
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Ethics of Journalism Major Assignment:
The codes of ethics of Al-Jazeera, Wikinews, and the CanadianAssociation of Journalists
BraydenBenham
Prof. David Swick
Ethics of Journalism
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Dec/03/09
With Al-Jazeera, Wikinews, and the Canadian Association of
Journalists (CAJ) we have three diverse forms of journalism. Al-Jazeera
is the only independent news organization in the Middle East. Wikinews
is a burgeoning offshoot of the Wikimedia Foundation. The CAJ is a
network of Canadian journalists established in the 80s. Although they
are very different, there are many important areas where these three
overlap and disagree. These include transparency, conflict of interest,
minimization of harm, fairness and truth. Definitions of terms vary and
some are more comprehensive than others, but it is obvious that
wherever the mantle of journalism hangs common ethical ground can
be found.
As the CAJs is the oldest of the three ethical codes and the most
comprehensive I will use it as a standard to judge the other two codes
against. On the issue of transparency the CAJ writes: We will clearly
identify news and opinions so that readersknow which is which. Al-
Jazeera holds that journalists should distinguish between news
material, opinions and analysis to avoid the pitfalls of speculation and
propoganda. And Wikinews gives a long list of ways in which to avoid
opinion and promote hard news: we remove and re-edit stories that
contain unverified sourceswe take the blame for stories that contain
untruthful information etc. They are all talking about the same
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thing, right? Not really.
They all tackle the same issue from different angles. CAJs
preoccupation is the most clear-cut: they will tell readers whether what
they are reporting is opinion or news. But Al-Jazeera adds their own
end to this principle, to avoid the pitfalls of speculation and
propaganda. In Canada we are not too worried about propaganda, the
ethical principles of our media have long been being developed and
established. Not so with Al-Jazeera. As they are the only independent
news network in the Middle East they see it as important to establish
principles in response to their particular cultural milieu, rather than to
examine pre-established principles as the CAJ does. This struggle to set
up first principles is clear in the lofty and idealistic tone of the code:
they attempt to establish such idealistic principles as to get at the
truthin a manner which leaves no doubt about its validity and
accuracy Although this is an admirable position it aint gonna
happen. As the Hindus say: for the progress of the mind man requires
doubt and faith (Baghavad, xxxviii). Al-Jazeera is a leaning towards
the faith side of things, but I will get back to their loftiness later on.
Wikinews is not too worried about propaganda either. Their focus
is on abolishing speculation. This is also shared with Al-Jazeera, but
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organization. As such we will strive not to turn stories about the
foundation into a press release They think that independence from
outside sources is important too, but unlike the other organizations
their beef lies mostly with the organization they are directly affiliated
with. The CAJ gives many examples of how a news organization can be
affected by outside sources, but Wikinews only gives one. Rather than
examining the intricacies of independence, like the CAJ, they are
identifying the one entity they see as the most important to guard
against in their nascent state.
Al-Jazeeras conflict of interest principle is quite similar to CAJs,
but it is surrounded with much more controversy. The controversy
involves their relationship with the U.S. ever since the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. At the outbreak of the War in Iraq Al-Jazeera was heavily
criticized for showing pictures of US and UK POWs (BBC). In 2003 the
BBC reported that, US officialscriticized the channel as anti-
American and encouraging Islamic militancy (BBC). To this the
bureau-chief to Al-Jazeera in London, Yousri Fouda, said, I can see why
American and British politicians and military leaders dont like us
showing these pictures. They show a side of war that they dont want
projected because it may affect public opinion in their country
negatively (BBC). Following this, despite their ethical principles, Al-
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Jazeera had to cater in part to the demands of the UK and US because
of the sheer force of their respective media, military and political sway.
The three codes take up varying stances in regard to sources
and the right to privacy. The CAJ says that each situation should be
judged in the light of common sense, humanity, and the publics right
to know. They recognize this issue as problematic and bear witness to
it. Wikinews takes the opposite stance saying, the decision rests with
the source. But giving control to the source disregards the publics
right to know. Wikinews is steadfast in their approach where as CAJ
leaves room for much needed speculation and courage. As I stated
above, Wikinews invests an incredible amount of importance in
sources, but probably too much. Since the CAJ has been around much
longer they are able to question their pre-established principles (a
postmodern approach), while Wikinews and Al-Jazeera are trying to
establish basic principles which can be advanced upon later, as if they
were setting up commandments. Wikinews and Al-Jazeeras stances
are much more simplistic than CAJs, but not inappropriately so: as C.P.
Snow once said, "any statements which have any reference to action
must be simple" (Snow, 60). That is, if Al-Jazeera and especially
Wikinews, ever want to get off the ground they must establish simple
principles that will provide a foundation and the basis for argument
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and agreement.
Al-Jazeera and Wikinews are more kindred with each other than
with the CAJ. This is because they are relatively new forms of media
fighting for justification and survival. They are both more concerned
with reiterating principles rather than explaining methods as the CAJ is.
Wikinews is constantly reiterating the importance of sources, and Al-
Jazeera the principle of objectivity. Both share a naive allegiance to the
truth: Al-Jazeera stresses remaining unbiased and faithful by taking
into account all factors that add into a story, and Wikinews states,
rather ignorantly, we remove and re-edit stories that contain
unverified sources and thus may be truthful. This is the only real
guideline Wikinews gives for getting at the truth, which displays their
simplistic stance and naivety, but also that their hearts are in the right
place. Both of these are opposed to the CAJ who make the humble
assertion that, Life does not always conform to guidelines. The CAJ
examines itself saying, We need to understand how our own beliefs
and biases can interfere with our own ability to see and report fairly
and courageously. Where the other codes simply state that we must
guard against bias the CAJ takes it one step further by admitting that
we have biases and that the way around them is not to avoid them (as
this is impossible) but to understand them.
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The CAJs code of ethics is the most evolved of the three. There
are obvious problems with Al-Jazeeras and (especially) Wikinews
codes, but this does not mean they are not good. Wikinews is
particularly exciting because it is set up in a way that the code can be
edited at any time and by anyone. This is also frightening, but at least
it leaves infinite room for improvement. Al-Jazeera may have a blind
allegiance to the truth and objectivity, but just like in Wikinews and
C.P. Snows case such ignorance in founding principles is necessary for
action. Overall the three codes overlap and agree on fundamental
issues, sometimes in the same terms, and sometimes from completely
different angles. It is clear that Wikinews and Al-Jazeera are more
immature than the CAJ, but this only means that one day their
respective codes may evolve into ones as comprehensive and
influential as that of the CAJ. From this it seems true that wherever the
mantle of journalism hangs there is also common ethical ground as
well as room for improvement.
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Works Cited
Al-Jazeera. "Code of Ethics."English.aljazeera.net. 12 Nov. 2006. Web.
Canadian Association of Journalists. "Statement of Principles." The Canadian
Association of Journalists. 2002. Web.
Kafala, Tarik. "Al-Jazeera: News Channel in the News."BBC News Online 29 Mar.
2003. Print.
Multiple Authors. "Wikinews: Code of Ethics." Wikinews.org. July 2009. Web.
Unknown Author, trans. Juan Mascaro and Simon Brodbeck. The Baghavad Gita.
Penguin Books. London, 1962.
Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.