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Interview: Fred Brown, co-chairman of the American Society of Professional Journalists’ Ethics Committee
The Journalists’ Council of Honor is quick and efficient
From 14 to 19 May, the Macedonian Journalists’ Association, supported by the USA Embassy, organized a seminar on slander and ethics in journalism. The seminar was aimed at the members of the Council of Honor and the coordinators of the regional centers of the Macedonian Journalists’ Association.
Fred Brown is one of the authors of Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists (1996) and he also writes a monthly ethics column for Quill magazine. In spite of retiring, he continues writing feature articles for the weekly edition of The Post, political analyses for the Denver NBC desk and he teaches communication ethics at the Denver University.
What are your first impressions now, a few hours after the seminar has finished?
I am deeply impressed by the energy and dedication of the members of the Council of Honor and the members of the Macedonian Journalists’ Association. I envy the fact that half of the journalists are members of the Association. In the USA the number of journalists who are members of any journalists’ organization is very small. I am also impressed by the rapidity the Council of Honor reacts upon journalists’ questions and complaints. There are obvious differences in the way journalism is protected or punished in these two countries (Macedonia and the USA). It seems to me that in Macedonia there are much more trails for slander, than in the USA and the number of such charges brought by politicians is much bigger than in our country.
Do you think it results from the level of democracy in the society or the level of journalists’ professionalization?
I think that both politicians and journalists are still trying to find the way they would communicate mutually in these relatively new living conditions. At the moment both sides are breaking ethical norms, as it is the case in America, too, thus turning the attention towards them. The Council of Honor and the Journalists’ Association with their activities do a favor not only to their colleagues, but to the whole society. The changes the Macedonian Journalists’ Association strives for, such as decriminalization of the trials for slender, as well as some other examples from the everyday life of their work, seem to be well considered. For every action they are careful what they do and what steps are taken.
Can you make comparison between the Council of Honor of the Macedonian Journalists’ Association and a similar body in the USA?
The Council of Honor can be compared with the Ethics Committee. Our problem is that the number of journalists, members of the association, is significantly smaller than in Macedonia and the number of members of the Ethics Committee is bigger. The American model is far less efficient than this one here and is nowhere near so agile. Timeliness is related to the big number of journalists. There is another part of our association responsible for legal provisions referring to the journalists’ protection. It is a smaller committee, the experts are in Washington, and so they can react more quickly. They practically cover legal issues. We have more problems and their slower solving where it is about ethical, not legal dilemmas. Many ethical problems in the USA are very complex and there are a lot of elements that should be taken into consideration, so it takes much longer for the Committee to announce the reaction.
Whose side is the public opinion on?
In America neither politicians nor journalists enjoy big trust by the public. However, in case of a dispute between them, the public rather supports the journalists than the politicians.
How should the Council of Honor function in the future?
They are doing well at the moment. I gave them a few suggestions for popularization of what they do. Among other things, they should engage a lawyer who would represent journalists’ legal interests, not only in a case of slender, but generally. I have suggested them not only to criticize weaknesses, but also to praise with the things that have been well done. Journalists who would cover only the media’s work, with critical texts about their colleagues and the media are good to be engaged, especially in the printed media, and also in the electronic ones.
What was the participants’ reaction to this proposal?
They said it would be very difficult to convince their editors about that. In the USA, these journalists, who are practically journalists’ critics, are very popular. As a rule, citizens want to criticize journalists and these journalists are their voice in the media. Thus they attract more attention within the audience; on the other hand it is useful since the journalism’s credibility is getting bigger as an occupation.
Are all the suggestions in the domain of increasing publicity?
It is important to popularize the Council’s existence and work. People should know that there are journalists who deal with improving journalists’ occupation.
Is the journalists’ Code enough bases for professionalisation of journalism and ethical behavior?
I know that codes are difficult to change, in such situations journalists always get involved in long-lasting debates. The only thing in which the Code underperforms, that is, does not complete its work, is the fact that it does not imply that journalism (bad journalism), can be harmful.
Do you have any other experiences from this region?
This has been my first visit to Macedonia and this part of Europe. But from what I have seen, I can certainly say that Macedonian journalism is moving to a good direction as it is managed by competent people who do it well. I will continue following what is going on and how the Council of Honor works. As a Society, we will be interested in how journalism is developing, not only in Macedonia, but everywhere.
Branko Gjorgjevski, member of the Council of Honor of the Macedonian Journalists’ Association
The race for sensations is the most dangerous
What are your impressions of the seminar on slender and ethics in journalism?
Such seminars are necessary as the exchange of experiences is very important in terms of respecting the code of ethics by the media. In the end we saw that we have a lot of similar situations here in Macedonia and the USA. The cases that cause ethical dilemmas, where the media make mistakes, are actually often very similar. They are texts related to children, family stories, journalists’ correct taking actions etc. Therefore it was important to see other experiences, too and to draw something as a general way of behavior of the media in concrete situations. I have to admit that in the desks sometimes we do not pay enough attention to ethical aspects of the stories. Rushing to write an exclusive story, a wish for sensations, lead towards reduction of our sense about how a certain story would impact some people. Conversations on this subject are an occasion to remind ourselves of that aspect and in our heads to “engraft” that “angle” of our stories.
What are, in your opinion, the biggest challenges that a journalist/journalism faces in the field of ethics?
Running for sensations is the most dangerous. The need for sensational stories is in the media’s nature in order to survive and impose on the market. When it leads you, then you easily cross “the red line” that should be a strict border between what is ethical and what is not. The danger is in the condition where such stepping over first makes the media daring to announce something which is not ethical. It certainly attracts the attention of the readers’ audience immediately.
After this, in the media that have not done the same there are consequences felt due to the reduced interest of the audience for the new edition. And what do you do in such situation?
The media that has acted ethically would tomorrow “think about” the way it would react when having such a story. That is, I think that the level of respecting the ethics would be reduced so they would react this way: “if they can do it thus attracting the audience, we have to do it, too”. It is a vicious circle in which borders are constantly moved and it is a very dangerous syndrome.
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