The ethics of journalism is one of the most well defined branches of media ethics. Primarily because it is frequently taught in schools of Journalism. Therefore, journalist ethics tend to dominate media ethics, sometime almost to the exclusion of other areas. Some of the concerns covered by journalism ethics include news manipulation. News can be manipulate and manipulated. Government and corporations may attempt to manipulate news media, government for example, by censorship, and corporations by share ownership. There are many ways news can be manipulated. It can be voluntary or involuntary. In a democratic society, a special relationship do exist between media and government. Although the freedom of the media may be constitutionally by law, which has precise legal definition band enforcement, the exercise of that freedom by individual journalists is a matter of personal choice of ethics.
Democracy cannot be exercised within a society unless its individual members are given an unobstructed choice on which to make their own moral, political and social decisions. Moreover, that choice does not exist unless the alternatives are presented in an atmosphere of free discussion. This in turn cannot exist without freedom under the law of the press and broadcasting.
The modern democratic government in The Bahamas represents over 350 thousand people A multi-cultural society that listen to the Bahamas news on a daily basis. Therefore, the representatives of government should be accountable for the process of the government to be transparent. However, the model that is used in government controlled radio station is clearly biased and unclear to the audience, as there are many persons who have to try and understand the news because it is said frequently too fast of a pace. Therefore, because of this, interpreting the news may be complex for many people. Interpretive Complexity is a mean of systematically study news in interpretation. Somehow, this is definitely the position the radio news stations affect its audience.
On the other hand because of the multi-cultural society that we live in, other nationalities surely are concerned about the country and its activities, but they are unable to comprehend the news effectively due to the language barrier. Therefore, if the news is difficult for Bahamians to quickly comprehend, what do you think about non-Bahamians. More than likely, because of the fast pace that the news is said, non-Bahamians may not be attractive to listening to the radio stations. This type of news reporting labels the reporting as poor performance.
News is the highlight of any country. Everyone should want to know the headline stories of each day. Thus, the foremost objective of the media is to keep the public abreast of current issues and events. The public expectation from the media is to represent this information in an accurate, honest and timely manner.
The time for the news is 6:30pm. After five minutes of news, there is advertising, which starts at 6:35pm. During this time, approximately twelve ads played. The present government dominated the ads with its campaign strategy. Other ads are business oriented and they take up time because there are two segments of ads for five minutes each. Moreover, advertising in The Bahamas has caused an enforcement of unethical conduct behavior to the extent that many radio stations mainly focus on how much money they can make, not the content or media ethics. By 6:45pm there is sport news and by 6:55pm it is time for the weather report.
The responsibility of the media is to mediate between those involved in making the news and the public and to provide that conduit with as much clarity, transparency and honesty as possible. This means separating facts from opinions, issuing corrections when mistakes are made and being as open as possible regarding the process of journalism and communication.
After viewing the Bahamas radio news, there are many factors that can be improved on.
No 1 There is not enough information for the news
No.2 The language used is simple, but it is said too fast
No.3 Sentences are too short
No.4 In some cases, there is no back up to support statement.
As journalist, a broadcaster should know the code of Journalist Principles, they are as follows: -
· to be professionally competent
· to be independent from political, economic and intellectual forces
· to have a wide and deep definition of news
· to give full, accurate, fair understandable report of the news
· to serve all groups. Rich /poor, young/old, conservative/liberal
· to defend and promote human rights and democracy
· to work towards an improvement of society
· to do nothing that may decrease the public’s trust in media
However, this is not to say that the journalists themselves are unethical, but rather, the system they work within encourages unethical behavior. Noting that may be the system is pressed to attract listeners and satisfy advertises.
My assessment of the radio station in The Bahamas is true as I carefully noted my findings. Further, to balance and be fair of the radio station, news is said with punctuality, on time for every time. At 6:30pm. The radio station has its specific time for headlines, advertising, sports and weather report. The schedule is five days per week for the 6:30pm news, from Monday to Friday.
My solution for the radio station is as follows: _
No.1 News should be accurate and real in reporting, presenting all real points, separating facts from opinions, but treating opinion as relevant
No2. The language used is simple; therefore, it is with great interest for the members of the community to comprehend what the reporter is saying, (just slow down).
No.3 Sentences that are too short can be more lengthening by using more time for the news.
No.4 Back-up statement reports to support statement that are voiced on the radio station
In my opinion, due to the radio news being said quickly, it appears that certain information is left out. Also, the advertising time is a factor, as this time has to be considered for the radio’s financial support. Nevertheless, more news time is needed to serve the Bahamians and non-Bahamian in a professional and effective way to communicate, educate and execute the news.
