BROADCAST JOURNALISM

Journalism - Media Law and Ethics

Table of Contents

Introduction2

Scope of the Paper3

Thesis Statement:4

Discussion and Analysis4

Social Responsibility of Press and Media in Malaysian Context:5

The Berish Rally and the Broadcast Media:7

Media Biasness10

Government, Public Relations and Journalism:10

Research Methodology14

Conclusions15

References16

Appendix19

Eras in Media:19

The role of the media and money in political campaigning:20

Journalism - Media Law and Ethics

Introduction

With the increased exposure and dimensions of media, Journalism is one of the fastest growing professions in Malaysia today. Media - let it be print or electronic - has always played a vital role in shaping the opinion of the public in Malaysia. As far as the field of study is concerned, it encompasses a wide range of subjects that are interlinked with those taught in Mass Communication. This is the sole reason, why journalism is not counted as a separate discipline. Journalism has its own ethics and standards to be followed while communicating to media and directly to public. Relationship between journalists and public relations (PR) practitioners of government institutions or political parties has received a widespread attention from the researchers of communication and media sciences. It is very interesting to see that whether it is a journalism professional or public relations practitioner, they both possess many professional similarities. However, regardless of similarities in both sides, the relationship between the both constituents is usually found with some complexities and ambiguities. Bright future awaits the potential journalists. Multinational organizations, media houses, broadcasting corporations, including T.V. and Radio are good choices for such individuals. Being a reporter, web journalist, editor, news editor, broadcaster, one can experience the host of opportunities. Lucrative packages are being offered to those with a degree in journalism; so the individuals should not be skeptical about their future, rather they should enjoy about what they are going to get during the course of their employment.

Media ethics are guidelines used by the media as a guide of good practices by the media. Every media company may have guidelines to provide guidance to its staff, similarly, the media industry. This ethic can be established by professional bodies and trade unions. In Malaysia, the Malaysian Press Institute has established ethics of journalism as a guide to the journalists in this country (Please refer to the guidelines contained in these Journalism Code (See the Press and Power, pages 344-345). In addition, National Union of Journalists (NUJ ) also has a code of ethics bound to journalists. Because there is no body to monitor adherence to the Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics in Journalism IAM NUJ, it is not known whether there is compliance or not.

However, there are things that can be regarded as the jurisdiction of ethics has become part of the law. If viewed from a number of cases related to defamation, we can analyze the impression that while the law may be violated even by journalists (most of the cases of journalists found guilty), then what was the case with ethics.

Scope of the Paper

In accordance with the Theory of Social Responsibility, media has become one of the most ...