HOW ETHICS INFLUENCE REPORTING ON HEALTH ISSUES Ileana Oroza January, 2010

THE ELEMENTS OF JOURNALISM  Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.  Its first loyalty is to citizens.  Its essence is a discipline of verification.  Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.  It must serve as an independent monitor of power.  It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.  It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.  It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.  Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.  (Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news.) Tom Rosenstiel, Bill Kovach

9. JOURNALISTS MUST BE ALLOWED TO EXERCISE THEIR PERSONAL CONSCIENCE  Every journalist should have a moral compass, a sense of ethics

NECESSARY CRITERIA IN A SYSTEM OF ETHICS  Shared values, derived from Family Peer groups Role models Societal institutions  Wisdom Standards based on reason and experience Balance between the rights of the individual and the needs of society Moderation  Justice Fairness  Freedom of choice Ability to exercise powers of reason without coercion  Accountability

ETHICS IN JOURNALISM Main thrust of codes of ethics is to ensure an organization’s Credibility Fairness

ETHICAL BEHAVIOR IN JOURNALISM Is related to the day-to-day work: The quality/purity of reporting Vigilance for inadvertent bias Independence The purity of the published image

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND IN COVERING HIV/AIDS  Sensitivity of story Myths  Transmission of HIV/AIDS  Causes of AIDS False hope  Quackery  Jumping to conclusions from new information  Stereotypes and generalizations Reporting on individuals, not anonymous groups  “Fringe groups” and the “Us vs. Them” syndrome Improper use of language  Victimization

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND  Vulnerability of many subjects Illness Stigma/discrimination Fear of ostracism or worse  Often tied to gender issues Sexual preference Impact on women  PRIVACY

PRIVACY AND THE LAW  Privacy refers to speech that does not damage a person’s reputation, but subjects a person to shame, embarrassment and/or humiliation  Laws aim to protect the dignity of the individual

PRIVACY TORTS (in U.S.)  Disclosure: Publication of an intimate or private matter such as one’s private sexual affairs or the health of an individual and/or his family, which is not already known to the public, and the disclosure of which is offensive to a reasonable person  Appropriation: Use of a person’s name or likeness or other highly personal material, without permission  Intrusion: Invasion of an individual’s private space or physical solitude in order to gather information  False Light: Publication of half truths or distortions of the truth that give an incorrect impression about a person

PRIVACY AND THE LAW  It may be legal In the U.S., Courts tend to side with the media on privacy issues  Public’s right to know  BUT IS IT ETHICAL?

IT’S LEGAL, BUT IS IT ETHICAL?  Many newspapers have a policy of not publishing names of rape victims. Some journalists believe this is not a good policy.  What do you think?

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER  What purpose does the revelation serve?  What harm will it do?  In the case of a public person, how does it relate to the performance of his/her duties?  How relevant is it to the story?

APPROACHING HIV/AIDS STORIES  Sensitivity  Develop trust based on knowledge and respect  Be aware of who it is you are interviewing A regular villager The minister of health  No surprises Make sure you have permission to disclose identities Make sure the subject understands what that permission involves  That might include the subject’s family  “ Cures" and treatments demand particular scrutiny and should be reported critically

APPROACHING HIV/AIDS STORIES  Don’t give up too quickly on finding named sources and examples Look for alternatives  If you need to grant anonymity, make sure there are sufficient named sources in your story so that the story has authority

WHAT READERS COMPLAIN ABOUT  Anecdotal ledes that take one side  Labels or shorthand description (ie: Crime- ridden neighborhood)  Heavy reliance on one group of sources  Limited representation of certain groups  Lack of balance  Headlines that over-simplify

SOURCES  Louis Alvin Day, Ethics in Media Communications: Cases and Controversies  C. Christians, K. Rotzoll, M. Fackler, K McKee, R. Woods, Jr.: Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning  Renata Simone: “HIV/AIDS Reporting Basics”  Kaiser Family Foundation: “Reporting Manual on HIV/AIDS”