ETHICS AND LEADERSHIP FOR MEDIA PROFESSIONALS by Tony Abolo

PROTOCOLS

The starting point of this paper is the setting of the parameters for what is Ethics in the media and when and how should the media exhibit leadership roles in the society. Until we set out the boundaries for meaning and context, we may rev into irrelevancies and miss the point .

The reason why I say this is that, whenever we think of Ethics in the media, we seem to think around the Brown Envelope syndrome, Government owned media forcing down their version of truth down peoples throats, media propaganda to sustain illegitimate and or weak governments and weak institutions. We must begin to cast our eyes wider on ethical issues to consider ethical practices like –

• Ø         The search for truth
• Ø         Media and the search for social cohesion
• Ø        Sex and violence in the media
• Ø         Popular culture and values.

An   And when it comes to leadership question, yes, we have a constitutional backing, but much more than that, we have only one weapon – information and advocacy-which is big enough to galvanize society to its agreed purposes. The question then is – do we exercise our mandate with the confidence of the context of the Constitution which is that, we the Press, Radio, Television and

                     Other agencies of the Mass Media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter (Chapter 2, Section 22) and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.

Do we justifiably exercise our mandate in the form of information to lead the people in terms of the Truth and to create in the minds of the people, leading thoughts that explain befuddled and complex issues and help to clarify general and common understanding that would enable governments to act with better perception in terms of policy formulation and the people to affect change in governance directions and be shielded from harm? Do we lift the people above themselves in search for super-ordinate goals? That is when we can mount the higher pedestal of Leadership. Are we the infallible source for News Opinions and new ideas? That is when we exercise leadership.

First issue first. Are journalists supposed to be ethical? The issue of ethics brings to the fore, the issue of a Socially Responsible Press or what is sometimes referred to as the Social Responsibility Theory of the media. 

First and foremost, journalists are communicators, assembling information and recasting same in a way that will successfully connect with their target audience. A thorough grounding in ethics is neither an essential nor even, in some employer’s eyes, a desirable pre-requisite for entry into the trade. Nonetheless, journalists are expected to operate in a more or less ethical way. In a more developed society, where media consumption is widespread and penetration deep, like in Britain, where with an Ombudsman, over 10,000 complaints a year are made to regulatory bodies, where people know how the system works, it does mean that those with whom journalists are supposed to communicate with, expect standards of veracity and integrity from the trade.

Gambo (2006:88) has said that –

The consensus is that for any group to claim to be a profession, it must have, among others, a code of ethics that guide members in practicing their trade. Therefore ethics are moral guidelines for the resolution of difficult dilemma.

Despite the seeming disarray in the Nigerian Media everybody, be it the Nigerian Press organization, the Nigerians Guild of Editors, the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, the NUJ, BON, the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, the ITPAN, (the Independent Television Producers of Nigeria) – all have a code of Ethics – precisely, for

(a)         A means of social control

(b)         To prevent control and interference by the Government or society through its agencies.

(c)         To protect the group which upholds its ethical standards and the public and

(d)         To promote higher standards of professional conduct.

Aside from these, the Nigerian media is subscribed to the international code of Ethics for Journalists which states that there should be –

          1.            People’s right to information
2.            The journalists dedication to objective reality
3.            The journalist’s social responsibility
4.            The journalist’s professional integrity

5.            Public access and participation
6.            Respect for privacy and human dignity
7.            Respect for universal values and diversity of culture.
8.            Respect for public interest.
9.            Elimination of war and other evils challenging humanity.
10.            Promotion of a new world communication order.
 

In fact there is what is referred to as the Journalist’s Creed which in a sketchy summary affirms that:

i.             I believe in the profession of Journalism

ii.            I believe that the public journal is a public trust and that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is a betrayal of this trust.

iii.           I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy, and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.

iv.          I believe that the suppression of news for any consideration other than the welfare of the society is indefensible.

v.            I believe that the Journalism which succeeds best and best deserves success, fears God and honours man.

So like new entrants into the medical profession who subscribe to the Hippocrates oath, we too in the media have and indeed should subscribe to the Journalist’s creed before we are accepted into any of the arms of the media.

THE CORE ISSUE – ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

There has been a shift from freedoms to responsibilities within the Libertarian framework. We have seen that early in their history, mass media fought for the right to gather and report news, to express opinions, and to operate in the marketplace of ideas and goods. Once those beachheads had been established, no matter how tentatively, the shift away from ideal libertarianism toward social responsibility followed quite naturally. Even the most eloquent spokespersons for a free press, American Jefferson included, came to maintain that there was a need for some checks and balances, within the information system. The question is, which groups or organizations will encourage the media to be socially responsible, to exercise freedom in society’s best interests, and to avoid an unhealthy diet of biased propaganda, misleading advertising, and anti-social entertainment and programming? Strict libertarians, given their belief in a self-righting '‘marketplace” process, would rely on public opinion and consumer response to do the job. Social responsibility theorists maintain that the government or some other agencies should help guide the media along the proper path. Self-control on the media’s part is another possible check. Sometimes self-control springs naturally from individuals attempting to serve society. More often, perhaps, it emerges as a form of “enlightened self-interest,” a defensive reaction in the face of real and perceived control from government or an upset public.

How media practitioners have responded to ethical questions is the subject of this lecture. Throughout, we will use the terms, social responsibility and ethics almost inter-changeably, because it is our belief that members of institutions have certain obligations to function in a socially responsible fashion and that, at base, ethics are manifestations of that social consciousness. Numerous ethical issues and, questions of self-regulation within advertising, public relations, and other media fields are within our purview. However this paper will concentrate somewhat more heavily on news media ethics. This is not to suggest that news or information ethics is a unique or more important enterprise than the ethics of persuasion or of entertainment. It isn’t. Our hope with this, is merely to lay out a framework for understanding and systematically working through ethical dilemmas and concerns over professionalism that can be applied by all who study and work in media fields.

DEFINING ETHICS AND MORALITY

Ask a lay person what he or she means by ethics or morality, and you are likely to hear that these subjects deal with the nature of human values and moral conscience, of choosing and following the “right” rather than the “wrong,” and of understanding and applying standards that have been set down by a group, association, or community. These definitions are useful for openers, but our fuller understanding of the issues raised in this paper might be better based on some of the insights and definitions posed by philosophers over the ages.

Ethics is based on the Greek word, ethos, meaning character or what a good person is or does in order to have a good character. In general, ethics deals with the philosophical foundations of decision making, of choosing among the good and bad options that one faces. Morality, on the other hand, comes from the Latin, ‘mores’ and refers to the way or manner in which people behave. Thus morality has come to mean socially approved customs, or the practice or application of ethics. (One easy way to remember the distinction, according to a philosopher with a wry sense of humor, is to think of ethics as behavior that occurs above the neck and morality as behavior that occurs below the neck!); rationality versus sentiments.

Ethics, in short, may be seen as being concerned with that which holds society together or provides the stability and security essential to the living of human life. Ethics as a branch of philosophy involves thinking about morality, moral problems, and moral judgments. It deals with “owes” and “oughts,” what obligations we owe or what responsibilities we have toward others, what we ‘should do” to make the world a better place. It is unlike law, which is a bottom-line, minimalistic enterprise that tells us what we can do or what we can get away with. When we describe the practicing of ethics, of putting these ideas to work, we are talking about “doing ethics.”

One final point by way of introduction. Far too often, discussions of ethics are couched in strictly negative terms, as in claims that “TV programs have too much violence and are socially destructive,” or “Rap music is obscene and misogynist,” or “News reporting is biased by commercial or cultural influences,” or “Public Relations and Advertising Campaigns unfairly manipulate public opinion.” There may be some truth to some of these accusations, but intelligent discourse about important issues in mass media is not carried on in exclusively negative terms. Rather, let us frame the questions in a more positive light, as in, “What roles are media expected to play and how can they play them in an ethical and excellent manner?” or “How can I be an informed consumer of mass media and what can I do to help assure responsible media?” A mass media practitioner attempting to behave ethically would ask, “What am I, as a believer in the precepts of public relations or advertising or journalism, supposed to do in my professional life?” The answers that arise are indeed complex, and form much of the basis of this lecture.

ILORIN DECLARATION

To resolve the logjam, the ILORIN DECLARATION of March 20 1989 adopted a new code for the Nigerian News Journalists under the following and major headings

i.             Editorial Independence

ii.            Accuracy and Fairness

iii.           Privacy

iv.          Privilege and Non-Disclosure

v.            Decency

vi.          Discrimination

vii.         Reward and Gratification

viii.        Violence

ix.           Children and Minors

x.            Access to Information

xi.           Public Interest

xii.         Social Responsibility

xiii.        Plagiarism

xiv.        Copyright

xv.         Press Freedom

xvi.        Retraction

xvii.      Feedback.

It is extremely necessary to underscore some of the intent of the elements of this 1989 code so as to re-iterate many issues where many of us are falling extremely short on ethical standards.

On accuracy and fairness, it is stated that it is morally imperative for the media to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards for the good health of the society. And on accuracy- a factual, accurate, balanced and fair reporting, should be the ultimate objective of a journalist and the basis of earning public trust and confidence. This indeed is the basis and the grundnorm of the fairness doctrine in the media, the equivalent of the legal fair hearing principle – ‘Audi Alterem Partem’ or hear the other side legal basis for fair hearing and judgment. Do we keep this in mind as we rush for the headlines and deadlines? 

On violence, the code seeks that we do not present or report acts of violence, terrorist activities or display of wealth in a manner that glorifies such acts in the eyes of the public. But what do we see – it is the big man, and the high and mighty and influential persons reporting syndrome; their birthdays, social events, views, jaundiced and biased opinions that we see on Television and on print and even the glossy Ovation type magazines.

Then comes the almighty reward, gratification issue. The code is specific that –

Journalists should not seek or receive anything, whether if be bribe, gratification or patronage with a view to suppressing information un-favourable to the giving party or publishing information or opinion favourable to such party.

The code goes on to add that –

Gifts and presents offered during festivities and festive seasons are culturally acceptable. But it is unethical if such gestures are intended to influence news judgment and other editorial decisions.

Much as the caveat has been drawn here, in our clime, the line is blurred. We may revisit this in this era of “change” and onslaught on corruption and re-orientation of national values as the proviso seem not enough safeguard.

But before commenting on another specific issue, that of reward and gratification issue , our brown envelope and write -my –name- down and sharing proclivity in the Nigerian media, we tend to defend our immorality and unethical behavior with the fact that

(a)         Times are hard

(b)         Our establishments do not pay for  months

(c)         Our bosses are contractor journalists etc.

I have heard all that. But the how and why must be addressed. Public sector journalists are not paid, largely because, Governors are not prudent resource managers. But why do we not hold them responsible? No. we let them have free security votes – public money – and go for bribes to feed our families. Wrong social order. The private journalists do not get paid for months because the owners are not sometimes media structured managers, divert the corporate resources to anything else but the business and worst still, do not run the stations or the paper under a Business Model. The ‘Nigeria Observer’ is an interesting case study. Why after 40 years is the paper still being run on a social model and delivered at a social cost? Why will the workers not suffer for their silence and complicity in a poor public sector service delivery? Those you write about  seven times a week leave  you to eat once in a while and it is okay, I guess. Who is suffering? Them or you, the workers.

Then the final comment under reward and gratification in the code is what private and the public broadcast media may find uncomfortable. It states that –

To demand payment for news otherwise known as the commercialization of news is inimical to the notion of news as a fair, accurate, unbiased and factual report of an event.

Under the guise of financial needs, we have resorted to a skewed democratic practice where poor people, the ordinary citizen has no access, especially to the electronic media. Think of it. How many of us practitioners and ordinary folks are quoted on air? This is because the airwaves are captured by the society money bags. The consequence, people have a skewed and wrong understanding of events, their society and country. To put it bluntly as Jurgen Habermas (1989) puts it – the commercialization of Mass Communication has vertically displaced “rational critical debate”. If you are poor, the Nigerian media shuts you “out of sight” and “out of hearing”. Consequently, we have made our democracy a tyrannical oppression. Consider the similarity with our justice system, where poor people are not likely to scale the police system and worse still guaranteed justice in the courts.  Can you appear in court as “yourself”, without a lawyer and you will be heard? On that score, I want to quote a poser a friend sociologist/  political scientist made to me some ten years ago which I could not answer then. How come CNN, BBC, Sky News, and Al Jazeera will cover us and do not ask for coverage fees or bribe and yet they provide world wide access and coverage,  while our local networks can never engage without asking for a fee? Why? I have an answer and I am not going to give it out for free? I am just joking. We must indeed seek the sociological interpretation of news and news impact on policy and social change, deepen freedom of speech and  the democratic process. As long as we go for the money – we miss out on what is news and miss out on re-ordering our society. Bottom line, a media house that does not build on a business model, in whatever way, cannot deliver timely, quality and efficient news and information service nor achieve brand loyalty.

This naturally leads me to the question that is the fundamental issue of practice –which is that journalism and all of media is about the pursuit of truth. The worst professional offence a journalist can commit is knowingly and deliberately to publish fiction as fact.

Certainly we perceive the pursuit of truth in general terms to be a fundamental objective towards the maintenance of democratic rights and principles. What happens to a society that abandons truth as a central organizing principle? What are the consequences for a society when we become indifferent to forms of deception and lying because they are perceived as parts of human nature? When can we jettison the deliberate manipulation of information as a morally unjustifiable and reprehensible act?

It is useful for our purposes to consider some insights from thinkers in relation to TRUTH. According to Mill (1989) in relation to the public space, the commitment to free expression is essential for the active production of truth. For Mill, truth could only be realized if the suppression of opinion or the silencing of expression of an opinion was negated from discourse. Thus, one should not suppress wrong or deceitful statements because thus exposed, truth shall triumph. Therefore, the manipulation of information raises the issues of journalistic duties towards standards and ethical conduct. Maintaining whatever modicum of trust there may be in the public space would enable the media to deliver information which depends on it in the pursuit of truth and not by its systematic distortion of facts and events for commercial and self-interested reasons to achieve status, aggrandisement or symbolic power.

Germane to the discourse in this paper is the relation of the media and Nigerian Politicians. What we may say here is akin to the Right Honourable Lord Justice Levinson’s enquiry into the Practices and Ethics of the Press in the UK and published on 29^th November 2012. In an executive summary on page 26, in sections 117, 119, 120 and 121, the report said:

Taken as a whole, the evidence clearly demonstrates that over the last 30 to 35 years and probably much longer, the political parties of UK national government and of UK official opposition, have had or developed too close a relationship with the press in a way which has not been in the public interest…

There are other aspects, however, in which the evidence suggests that politicians have conducted themselves in relation to the press, in ways which have not served the public interest. They have placed themselves in positions in which they risked becoming vulnerable to influences which are neither known about or transparent.

I have concluded that a combination of these factors has contributed to a lessening of public confidence in the conduct of public affairs, by giving rise to legitimate perceptions and concerns that politicians and the press have traded power and influence in ways which are contrary to the public interest and out of public sight.

In reaching these views, my focus Lord Justice Leveson states, has been not on particular parties or particular politicians but on patterns of behavior” End quote.

All that I have read sounds familiar, no doubt. As in the UK, so in Nigeria. It

tells you what a responsible society should be concerned about when it comes to ethical issues. Now cast your mind to the N120 million paid to NPAN members by President Jonathan in compensation for Newspaper seizures. Or the N50 million paid to Femi Adesina when he was the President of the Guild of Editors, for the Guild of Editors Secretariat Building. Or the N600 million paid to Nduka Irabor’s Hydrocarbon Company from the Arms Fund, over This Day’s Dome building destruction, which an insurance company should have covered or the N1.2 billion naira paid to AIT’s Raymond Dokpesi for non-descript media services during the last 2015 Presidential Campaign. Or the monthly stipend paid by Governors to Media Bureau Correspondents instead of the media houses taking adequate professional care of their staff in order to keep their consciences free. Then, you know we do have serious ethical and moral issues to contend with in the Nigerian media.

And so now, how can we reclaim our mandate – as a power, within the quadrangle of power – which should be exercised with responsibility, and cancel the indictment by James Curran and Jean Seaton in their 1981 book on the Press and Broadcasting in Britain of –POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY.

It has been argued that the media play an important part in modern society. But then, do Newspapers, Broadcasting and Mass Entertainment matter? Do they change society or merely reflect the changes created by others. To answer these questions, James Curran and Jean Seaton states unequivocally that:

“The power of the Press and broadcasting is NOT necessarily greatest when the political involvement of the media is most apparent”.

So how best can we fulfill our leadership role? The Hutchins Commission inaugurated in 1942 utilizing the Social Responsibility Theory of the Media made two fundamental postulations –

(1)         Whoever enjoys freedom has certain obligations to society. In other words, since we enjoy a libertarian heritage conferred on us by the constitution, we have the concomitant responsibility to use those freedoms to serve the welfare of the society and

(2)         Society’s welfare becomes the most overriding concern.

The most important requirement of us, is that the media provide “a truthful, comprehensive and intelligent account of the day’s events, in a context which gives them meaning”. It is a call for accuracy in news but beyond that, it is a call for a clear separation of fact from opinion. Recognizing the merits of objective, value-free journalistic reporting, the Hutchins Commission also said, the media fails society, if they fail to place the news in perspective. It is no longer enough to report the fact truthfully. “It is now necessary to report the truth about the fact” the commission concluded.

In an ever more complex society, people need to know more than the basic “who said what to whom, when, and where” they also need to know the “how” and “why” of the news. It is false objectivity to report that the Governor of Edo State or the Military Command said that militants were found in a hotel days before the postponed 2016 gubernatorial elections. Or to report that the elections are postponed due to insecurity reasons. What is the truth about the fact? We all need to know the how and the full disclosures of the “why”, otherwise we resort to conjectures, rumours and negatives.

We also exhibit leadership by the role we play in terms of our comprehensive content which forms the basis for popular alternatives to the formal school. The media is a source of knowledge and deepening of education.

We have the added role of molding and reshaping societal thoughts through what we canvass and buttress through in depth analysis, research and agenda setting. When we do, we thus help the governors and the governed to focus on public issues and on the merits and de-merits of public policies. It is this posture that enables us to speak with a voice of authority because – we speak the truth, we speak and report on issues in an objective manner, we focus on societal concerns and show the way forward in order to break critical impasse.

To achieve these noble roles, we must lead with IDEAS. Today after nearly two years, what does CHANGE mean? What does “restructuring of Nigeria mean? If the Vice President, a Professor and from the Yoruba stock, who have been the proponents of restructuring for years, cannot understand what restructuring means or the newer context, how can any ordinary school certificate holder understand? And  urgent as it is, how can it ever be implemented?

Ideas they say, rules the world. But that statement came forcefully to me as I  read the book – ‘Why the West Rules, For Now’ by Ian Morris. It is the leading ideas that we in the media espouse and drive and expatiate that become the leading thoughts and ideas of society. We make the society as the society does make us in return, and in that dynamics, we exhibit leadership – if Nigeria must take its rightful place in the comity of Nations.

From historical records, we glean how ideas dominate political and cultural landscapes of certain generations. In pre-history, for example, in 500 BC, first wave axial thoughts which gave way to second wave axial thoughts were dangerous, challenging of authority of husbands over wives, the rich over the poor, kings over subjects. When a new order is to emerge, the old thought constructions are queried with knowledge, and that throws off the old shibboleths. This is how societies develop on new structures, habits and thought processes.

In Nigeria – what are the leading thoughts, in politics, science, economics, values, development or in other areas of society? Painfully, I see nothing but chaos and confusion. And who should lead us through, but the media? Little wonder, Nnamdi Azikiwe’s West African Pilot’s motto in the pre-independence days was – “Show the Light, and The People Will See The Way”. But what do we see from the media? It is the tail wagging the dog; the politicians and the larger society leading us in the media and dictating directions. We have lost our primacy of place in the role of educating and informing the society.

Since worlds are built on ideas- ideas often brought from a preceding generation, the cerebral Chinweizu, cautioned that we need to clarify our critical thinking in the media as the ideas we espouse may have no reality. Hear him –

Ideas can build or wreck

Ideas can help or hurt

Ideas can clarify or confuse

Ideas can enlighten or delude

Ideas can facilitate or impede

Hence, in his concern to make Nigeria an exceptional country, and give anchor to the black man, Chinweizu further went to say –

We must pay careful attention to extant ideas to ensure we do not blindfold or bind ourselves with the wrong ones, with unhelpful notions and delusions.

If ideas rule the world, then our first step to social re-construction of any kind must be at the workshop of ideas, not market place of ideas.

Our challenge in the media then, is to deconstruct, before a new construct can materialize, before a flourishing leadership at all levels can emerge and provide the bulwark to drive us all into a future of our hopes.

Tony Abolo

February 2017

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1.            Abolo Tony 2015                                 Introduction to Nigeria Mass Media

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2.            Ogbeten Ogbemi and                          The Nigerian Press, A Historical

John O. Atake 2011                            Perspective, Amfitop Books, pp. 164-181; p183-184, 185.

3.            Briyant Jay Black, Jennigs 1995 Introduction to Mass Communication,

(Fourth Edition) Pps 540-541, 565, 568-569.

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6.            Lord Justice Leveson 2012                  An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices

and Ethics of the Press, Executive Summary, Ordered by the House of Commons, the Stationery Office, London, 29^thNovember. P. 25.

7.            James Curran and                              Power Without Responsibility, the

Jean Seaton 1981                               Press and Broadcasting in Britain,

Fontana Paper Backs, P. 257.

         

1.8.       Tony Abolo 2005                       http://chuanedo.ning.com/group/wazobia

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