Candice Cummins Gauthier, professor at the University of
North Carolina provides a sophisticated analysis of ‘Understanding and
Respecting Privacy’ in the sixth chapter of the book, ‘Journalism Ethics; A
Philosophical Approach’. The chapter addresses potential conflicts regarding
privacy when reporting the news that journalists, their editors and audiences
may encounter. The author concludes that invasions of privacy can yield benefits
in certain situations; like when public officials or candidates are
involved, and the exposure of previously private information holds overwhelming
benefits for the public. However, the invasion of privacy also has the
potential to destroy a news organisation (as well as individual lives) completely, organisations must
be willing to justify their actions if they decide to publish private information.
The chapter discusses ethical principles that should be considered relevant to
privacy issues in journalism, such as the Principle of Respect for Persons
(based on Immanuel Kant’s ‘Practical Imperative’), and concludes that if
privacy invasions are considered, they must be justified by the Utilitarian
Principle (based on the ethical theories of John Stuart Mill). This chapter provides an accurate account of
considerations that must be made regarding privacy issues in journalism, and
the credibility of the text is reinforced through citations of various other
theories concerning the same matter.
Halliday, J. (2012) Charlotte Church settles phone-hacking
case with News International. Retrieved May 24th, 2012, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/23/charlotte-church-phone-hacking-case.
Josh Halliday, media and technology reporter for The
Guardian newspaper discusses the case of Charlotte Church in the News
International Group Limited phone hacking scandal. The article begins by
detailing specifics of how the singer and her parents were negatively affected
by the actions of News Limited, and how her civil action court case regarding
the matter has now been settled. 33 articles about Church and her private
family matters were published by the ‘Sunday’ newspaper, articles
which were produced using information that was retrieved by hacking into the
singer’s voicemail messages. The private information that was published negatively impacted on Church’s family business, as well as
her mother’s health. The article then details other information
about the phone hacking scandal in general, such as how up to 800 people may have been victims of phone hacking by News Limited. The article is successful in providing a
good platform of solid information about what the end result may be when
privacy invasion occurs on a large scale, from a respected Guardian journalism (who
is especially interested in privacy matters, and so brings an educated discussion
of the matter to light). This article details events that do not comply with the considerations that must be made when privacy invasions are considered, according to Candice Cummins Gauthier.
Kraus, T. (2011) Old
Hack to Hackers: Take Your Phones and Shove Them. Retrieved May 24th,
2012, from http://ten.com.au/meet-the-press-paul-bongiorno-22643.htm.
In this article, Tom Kraus, established journalist and
former supervising editor of Ten’s ‘Meet the Press’ discusses his views on the
News Limited phone hacking scandal. The article begins by quoting statements
from the Media Alliance Code of Conduct in comparison to the News Limited Code
of Conduct, clearly showing the difference in standards for each. The author
conclusively disapproves of the actions of the News Limited journalists who
participated in the scandal, and with good reason. Kraus discusses how he had
been presented with opportunities to do such things throughout his career, and
how he respectfully declined; his actions justified by a simple quote from the
MEAA code of ethics. Although Kraus admits he may condone such activities if
they had the potential to reveal information of ground breaking public
interest, it appears he cannot justify the actions of News Limited,
specifically in relation to phone hacking to reveal personal information about celebrities and members of the Royal Family. The article provides witty and thought provoking opinions
with respect to the News Limited hacking scandal, opinions which could be
considered credible and relevant as they belong to a successful professional
who has been working in the journalism industry for over 40 years. Tom Kraus's views on when privacy invasion is acceptable and when it is not appear to comply with those of Candice Cummins Gauthier, as detailed above.
Dick, T. (2011). Phone
Hacking a Terrible Slur On Our Craft: News’s Australian Head. Retrieved May
24th, 2012 from http://www.theage.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/phone-hacking-a-terrible-slur-on-our-craft-newss-australian-head-20110708-1h5t6.html.
Tim Dick, Herald journalist and qualified lawyer presents an
informative article on the views of the head of the Australian News Limited sector,
John Hartigan, in relation to the UK hacking scandal. Hartigan distances the
Australian News Limited operations from the UK affairs, making clear how he is
confident that the practices in Australia are completely ethical and to moral
standards. Hartigan describes the actions of News Limited UK as ‘an affront to
all of us who value the integrity and credibility of good journalism’ and ‘the
antithesis of everything we stand for’. Dick presents Hartigan’s statements in
a way that helps promote the continuation of trust between Australian publics
and their national News Limited newspaper journalists. Dick then goes on to
describe how News Limited is the dominant newspaper company in Australia, and
details some of the current affairs that were occurring with News Limited
Australia at the time the article was produced. This article also details of
the precautionary measures that Australian News Corporation took to ensure
nothing similar was happening in Australia. The fact that the author is also a
lawyer brings credibility to the article, as lawyers are well aware of the
implications of producing false or misleading information, and so would not
partake in doing so. This article is not quite as detailed as the others annotated above, but still concludes that the phone hacking affairs of News Limited UK are not acceptable by any standards.
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