Abstract
This chapter gives a broad sweep of the space for journalism ethics in the Asia-Pacific region. It observes that press freedom is correlated with other human rights. This suggests that the political and cultural context is important for press freedom. In the Asia-Pacific, the space available for the application of ethics is rather limited because of the strong presence of government regulation. And even in that limited space, regulations can be enforced by governments to restrict media freedoms further. The author notes the pressures to do the unethical from political and financial sources, and the lowering of the ethical firewall, as forces behind unethical action. The chapter then explores the possibility of a set of ethical guidelines for the Asia-Pacific, finding that such guidelines would have to be culturally compatible, accommodating religious concerns as well. The chapter concludes that there are grounds for optimism that media will move toward being more ethical. There is the availability of “accountability technology” that surfaces false claims. There is also the desire of consumers for more reliable and trustworthy media.
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Notes
- 1.
See International Federation of Journalists, Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists.
- 2.
See Reporters Without Borders, The World Press Freedom Index 2019: A Cycle of Fear.
- 3.
See Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2019: Democracyin Retreat.
- 4.
See Commission on Freedom of the Press, A Free and Responsible Press.
- 5.
See Article 21, The Constitution of Japan.
- 6.
Tsukamoto, “Social Responsibility Theory and the Study of Journalism Ethics in Japan,” 62.
- 7.
See Tsukamoto, “Social Responsibility Theory and the Study of Journalism Ethics in Japan.”
- 8.
See Au, “This is Not About Sex.”
- 9.
See Tan and Ng, “MediaWatch: The Big If ….”
- 10.
See Sivakkumaran, “Independent Media Watchdog to Fold.”
- 11.
When the dominant newspaper company was granted a broadcast licence, which broke the monopoly on television and radio broadcasting, it did not invite its competitor who ran the television and radio monopoly. See Perera, “Enough, This Media War.”
- 12.
See Kang, “Media Situation Improved.”
- 13.
See Wu and Lambert, “Impediments to Journalistic Ethics: How Taiwan’s Media Market Obstructs News Professional Practice.”
- 14.
See Pintak and Setiyono, “The Mission of Indonesian Journalism: Balancing Democracy, Development, and Islamic Values.”
- 15.
See Goel and Gettleman, “Under Modi, India’s Press Is Not So Free Anymore.”
- 16.
See Filkins, “Blood and Soil in Narendra Modi’s India.”
- 17.
See TVP Bureau, “Arnab Goswami-Promoted ARG Outlier’s FY19 Net Loss Widens to Rs 16.5 Cr.”
- 18.
See TVP Bureau, “Arnab Goswami-Promoted ARG Outlier’s FY19 Net Loss Widens to Rs 16.5 Cr.”
- 19.
Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, Article 3, S.4.
- 20.
Constitution of the United States, First Amendment.
- 21.
Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, S.11, General Provisions.
- 22.
See BBC, “ABS-CBN: Philippines’ Biggest Broadcaster Forced off Air.”
- 23.
See Hammer, “The Journalist vs the President, with Life on the Line.”
- 24.
See Ratcliffe, “Maria Ressa: Rappler Editor Found Guilty of Cyber Libel Charges in Philippines.”
- 25.
See Jose, “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied in Philippines’ Maguindanao Massacre and Buan, Ampatuan Brothers Convicted in 10-Year Massacre Case.”
- 26.
Wang and Ang, “The Principal-Agent Problem in Chinese State-Owned Media, 109.”
- 27.
See Wang, Cho and Li, “An Institutional Explanation of Media Corruption in China.”
- 28.
See Xinhua, “Former Chinese Media Executive Jailed 4 Years for Extortion.”
- 29.
See Yong, “‘A Power Capable of Making Us Weep’: Journalism Under Attack and Denyer, Arrest of Inspirational Editor Shen Hao Marks End of an Era for Chinese Journalism.”
- 30.
See Carlson, “When News Sites Go Native: Redefining the Advertising-Editorial Divide in Response to Native Advertising.”
- 31.
See Press Council Sub-Committee, “Paid News: How Corruption in the Indian Media Undermines Democracy.”
- 32.
See Auletta, “Citizens Jain: Why India’s Newspaper Industry Is Thriving.”
- 33.
See Ramaprasad, Dubey and Masood, “News Under Pressure from Profit and Politician: Influence of Corporate Ownership and Political Alliances on India’s Journalism.”
- 34.
See Cohen, “At Work in the Digital Newsroom;” and Giomelakis, et al. “The Utilization of Web Analytics in Online Greek Journalism.”
- 35.
See Tandoc, Analyzing Analytics.
- 36.
Tandoc, Analyzing Analytics, 64–65.
- 37.
See Tandoc, Analyzing Analytics.
- 38.
See Quinn, “Failing to Prepare? Journalism Ethics Education in the Developing World: The Case of Cambodia.”
- 39.
Quinn, “Failing to Prepare?” 56.
- 40.
See Tsetsura, “Guanxi, Gift-Giving, or Bribery? Ethical Considerations of Paid News in China.”
- 41.
See Lee, Cui, and Zhang, “Ethical Orientation and Judgments of Chinese Press Journalists in Times of Change.”
- 42.
See Quinn, “Failing to Prepare?”
- 43.
See Christians, et al., Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, Tenth Edition.
- 44.
See Meyers, “Universals Without Absolutes: A Theory of Media Ethics.”
- 45.
See Christians, “Universalism Versus Communitarianism in Media Ethics.”
- 46.
See Gunaratne, Shelton. The Dao of the Press: A Humanocentric Theory; and Gunaratne, et al., “Mindful Journalism and News Ethics in the Digital Era: A Buddhist Approach.”
- 47.
See Steele, “‘Trial by the Press’: An Examination of Journalism, Ethics, and Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia.”
- 48.
See Steele, “Trial by the Press.”
- 49.
As cited in Pintak and Setiyono, “The Mission of Indonesian Journalism,” 187.
- 50.
See Pintak and Nazir, “Pakistani Journalism: At the Crossroads of Muslim Identity, National Priorities and Journalistic Culture.”
- 51.
See Pintak and Ginges, “The Mission of Arab Journalism: Creating Change in a Time of Turmoil;” and Pintak and Setiyono, “The Mission of Indonesian Journalism.”
- 52.
See Pintak and Nazir, “Pakistani Journalism.”
- 53.
See Zain, Face Off: A Malaysian Reformasi Diary (1998–99); and Cheah, “The Rise and Fall of the Great Melakan Empire: Moral Judgement in Tun Bambang’s Sejarah Melayu,” 113. Here it quotes the Annal as saying: If a king shames one of his Malay subjects, that is a sure sign that his kingdom will be destroyed by God.
- 54.
See Steele, “Trial by the Press.”
- 55.
See Tapsell, “Negotiating Media ‘Balance’ in Malaysia’s 2013 General Election.”
- 56.
See Sukumaran, “Umno-Linked Utusan Malaysia Newspaper Shuts Down After 80 Years.”
- 57.
Diamond, “Liberation Technology,” 76.
- 58.
See Diamond, “Liberation Technology.”
- 59.
Diamond, “Liberation Technology,” 73.
- 60.
See Steele, “Justice and Journalism: Islam and Journalistic Values in Indonesia and Malaysia.”
- 61.
Steele, “Justice and Journalism,” 536.
- 62.
See Steele, “Justice and Journalism.”
- 63.
See Christians, “Media Ethics on a Higher Order of Magnitude.”
- 64.
See Ward, Global Journalism Ethics.
- 65.
See Ethical Journalism Network. 5 Principles of Journalism.
- 66.
See Rao and Lee, “Globalizing Media Ethics? An Assessment of Universal Ethics Among International Political Journalists.”
- 67.
See Rao and Lee, “Globalizing Media Ethics?”
- 68.
See Rao and Lee, “Globalizing Media Ethics?”
- 69.
See Rao and Lee, “Globalizing Media Ethics?”
- 70.
See International Federation of Journalists, Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists.
- 71.
See Freedom House, Freedom in the World: Democracies in Decline.
- 72.
Ward and Wasserman, “Towards an Open Ethics: Implications of New Media Platforms for Global Ethics Discourse,” 290.
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Ang, P.H. (2021). Law and Ethics in the Asia-Pacific Region. In: Ward, S.J.A. (eds) Handbook of Global Media Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32103-5_63
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