Establishing Business Goals and Measurement is Necessary Before Embarking on E Marketing Implementation
Setting up a web page and promoting online business has become a necessity for all business organisations, irrespective of the size of the organisation and the business. Every minute, several thousands of people from all over the world are accessing the internet and searching for products and information. A few hundred of them could be […]
Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour
No two individuals have same buying preferences. The buying tendencies of individuals vary as per their age, need, income, lifestyle, geographical location, willingness to spend, family status and so on. An individual’s immediate family members play an essential role in influencing his/her buying behaviour. An individual tends to discuss with his immediate family members before […]
What is Status Consumption and Why it is Important for Marketers of Premium Goods ?
With the advent of globalization, marketers have had the opportunity to market to a global audience from many countries and cultures. Products are no longer the traditional goods and services and instead the emphasis is on brand building and marketing brands as part of a comprehensive marketing effort to reach out to consumers. In this […]
After Sales Service/Customer Service
Customers are the assets of every business. Sales professionals must try their level best to satisfy customers for them to come back again to their organization. What is After Sales Service? After sales service refers to various processes which make sure customers are satisfied with the products and services of the organization. The needs and […]
Consultative Selling – A Perspective
Consultative selling has been one of the most recent selling concepts that have evolved in the marketing field today. As Organizations have become customer oriented and service oriented, they have begun to realize that trying to sell their products or services to the Customers is not enough anymore. The salesmen are no longer just agents […]
In recent months, the media world has been hit with several scandals related to the way in which they have tried to manipulate the system for their benefit.
If in the UK, the Rupert Murdoch owned NewsCorp was caught bribing the police to access personal details of people and to hack into their phones, in Asia, there were several scandals related to the blackmailing of industrial houses in order to stop bad coverage.
Further, the fact that “paid news” or “infomercials” (commercials passed off information) has dented the reputation of the media houses.
Hence, there is a need for a code of conduct for journalists if the present degenerative trend is to be stopped.
Indeed, the need for a code of conduct is becoming stronger by the day as the journalists have been proved as susceptible as anybody has to the lure of money. As the recent scandals show, the media, which is supposed to be the watchdog in a democracy, has been suffering from credibility issues.
The most important reason why the media needs a code of conduct for itself is that the media along with the legislature, executive, and the judiciary is the purveyor of public good and hence, must be above suspicion.
The code of conduct can be along the lines of having the journalists declare whether the article that they have published is being paid for by industrial houses or whether the information in the article has been obtained ethically.
In other words, the journalists should be scrutinized for unethical practices and made to observe the code of conduct diligently. Apart from this, though there is a need to protect sources since that is the bottom line requirement of journalism, there is also a need to report news in an objective and unbiased manner.
The function of the media is not to “massage the message” and “spin the facts” but to report them as they are. Hence, the code of conduct must incorporate ethical practices like not concealing key and vital information and declaring whether the information obtained is through ethical means and not through dubious means.
The other aspect of the code of conduct is that it must be made binding on the journalists and any attempt to circumvent the code must be punished. This calls for an ombudsman for the media who would oversee the various publications and ensure that the media is sticking to the code of conduct.
Apart from this, each media house must have internal vigilance wherein the voluntary practice of adhering to the code of conduct must be practiced.
As any industry veteran would attest, voluntary compliance is the best way for any industry and hence, like how some newspapers in India do (ex. The Hindu) there must be a Reader’s Editor and an Internal Auditor to check the content being published.
Finally, prevention is better than cure and hence, the media houses and their unethical practices must be nipped in the bud and not allowed to outgrow the institution. This is the clear message that is being sent from the recent scandals where the institutions have been subsumed because of the presence of some bad apples.
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