07.03.2024
Accuracy does not only imply presenting facts that are correct or verified, and journalists are more than just “transmitters” who strictly follow the rule of answering the five journalistic questions. The country is one of those in which the publication of unverified news in the media is an everyday occurrence. The CMEM Complaints Commission found 31 violations in its decisions and opinions, all of which involved inaccurate or false reporting or a violation of Article 1 of the Journalist Code. The “second party” is frequently missing from the texts for which appeals have been filed, owing to the media’s deep partisan divide.
Written by: SEFER TAHIRI
Truth and accuracy have been and should continue to be the supreme principles of journalism since its inception and into the future. The credibility of a journalist, the media, and the profession as a whole all hinge on how well these principles are respected and applied in journalistic practice.
Trust depends on disinformation-free reporting
Journalists, editors, and especially editors-in-chief should be aware that gaining trust is extremely difficult, requiring a great deal of “journalistic sweat,” energy, and stress, as well as working under time constraints and external pressures. On the other hand, trust is easily broken. Sometimes with only one or a few misinformations or a forged photograph..
To defend professional integrity, journalists and editors must provide accurate and comprehensive information from which citizens can draw conclusions and make decisions.
Information transmitted through the media must be accurate and relevant to reality, so it is critical that it be verified by at least two sources. Therefore, journalists have the right to seek information, to publish it, and to critically analyze it. Each element of the news report (the report and attachments) must be correct, including events, names, dates, locations, quotes, and so on. One mistake about one fact can cast a shadow over the entire journalistic text.
Truthfulness implies whether the information contains facts and details that can be verified through primary or alternative sources. This is what the trainers handbook says: “Media literacy: LEARN TO DISCERN“. It notes that “American professor Carrie Gallagher distinguishes several levels of false information:
- Shameless lies: Someone is deliberately spreading lies;
- Partial lies: Someone uses a fact to make an unreasonable assumption. Although that part of the information is true, the rest is not;
- Leaving out important details on purpose: The person who publishes the information knows a fact but does not include it because it goes against the theory they support.
It is also said in this manual that “it is important to tell the difference between lies and mistakes.” Therefore, we distinguish:
- Misinformation refers to inaccurate or incomplete information caused by error or ignorance.
- Disinformation: Information that is false and has been intentionally created and expanded through automated technology to mislead the public with respect to a particular person, social group, organization, or country.
- Malinformation refers to true but malicious information shared to cause harm, often by transferring private information to the public sphere with the intention of harming someone.
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Accuracy does not only imply presenting correct or verified facts, and journalists are more than just “transmitters” who strictly adhere to the five journalistic questions: who, what, when, where, and why (plus the sixth question, how?).
In the publication of the Council of Media Ethics entitled “Public Interest Reporting” – the protection of the ethical principles of reporting through the work of the Complaints Commission, it is stated:
“Journalists are not only collectors of news, but they are expected to investigate, reporting objectively and accurately on what is happening. The selection of facts must provide objective information and take into account all significant aspects of the topic under discussion.”
According to the Code of Ethics for Journalists, states that “the primary task of journalists is to respect the truth and the right of the public to be informed in accordance with the Constitution.”
Standards of accuracy and truth as the foundations of journalistic principles
According to the Manual of Public Interest in Journalism, accuracy and precision must take precedence over speed
“The media should not publish or broadcast any news or report without first conducting routine and appropriate research to ensure its credibility. It is also critical that all news, reports, and other types of journalistic genres have a sufficient number of sources and are supported by solid evidence“.
If reporting errors occur, they should be identified and corrected as soon as possible, in a clear and appropriate manner. Admitting a mistake is a virtue; concealing it is incompatible with professional dignity. It is set at the level of a rule: the media should publish a clear correction, emphasizing that inaccurate and distorted information was published, and, if necessary, apologize.
Accuracy and verification of information are part of several articles of the Code of Ethics. The interpretation of these articles is based on the Manual on Ethics in Journalism, published in 2012 by the Association of Journalists.
Article 1 emphasizes that the need to report quickly should not jeopardize the text/attachment’s accuracy, credibility, or professionalism. The journalist should provide a “second party,” which means systematic verification of all facts in a single text or attachment. Journalists should allow participants in an event, process, or occurrence to express or explain their perspectives before publishing the text/attachment. This is especially important in cases where the journalist makes suspicions or accusations, or when someone is the subject of an attack and criticism. Furthermore, they should not distort or misuse statements made about the specific event being reported.
According to Article 2, when a journalist has not received an answer from the government to questions he/she considers to be of public interest, he/she should inform the public.
Article 4 addresses the citation of sources. As a general rule, the source of the information should be identified, unless it jeopardizes its or another party’s security.
The practice in North Macedonia demonstrates that the dissemination of unverified news in the media is commonplace.
Unverified content is created not only for internal consumption, but also for the “international market,” as demonstrated by the youth from Veles who influenced the 2016 US presidential election. This city’s youth created over 100 websites with various names that favored former President Donald Trump, primarily for economic reasons.
Commission decisions on complaints related to the principle of truthfulness and accuracy
According to the Ethics Council statistics for 2023, for 132 complaints received, 107 decisions or opinions were made. Of these, 61 cases were found to have violated the journalistic code, while 41 cases had no violations of the “rules of the game.” For 20 appeals, no procedure was initiated because they were defined as unfounded for consideration. 5 complaints have been resolved through mediation or conciliation between the parties.
Complaints are filed by citizens and various legal entities. 53 complaints were submitted by citizens, 9 by the media, 13 by journalists, 35 by civil sector organizations or associations, 2 by public office holders, 1 by a lawyer, 5 by private companies, 10 by political parties, and 4 complaints were referred to as “other.”
Of the 132 complaints, 110 refer to journalistic texts or articles in online media, 10 to TV websites, 6 to TV, 2 to newspapers, 1 (invalid) to the Facebook platform, and 3 (invalid) to the news aggregator Time. mk.
Over 37% of the detected violations (or 31 decisions/opinions) refer to inaccurate or false reporting or a violation of Article 1 of the Journalist Code. On average, 2.33 complaints were received each month during 2023, which found a violation of Article 1.
The CMEM Complaints Commission’s analysis of the cases reviewed reveals that in a large number of journalistic texts, the “second party” is almost absent in those referred to by the applicants. It is frequently discovered that the texts lack at least two interdependent or unrelated sources.
This is primarily a consequence of the deep division of the media along political-partisan lines, which influences the public to produce and transmit two parallel/conflicting media narratives that demonize the side to which they have a critical approach. It is not uncommon for unprofessionalism in journalism to be affected by the economic, commercial, and personal interests of the owners or editors of the media.
But it is considered that the dominant factor resulting in unprofessionalism is the lack of any regulation of the media in the online sphere. Some journalists and editors freely interpret this as “absolute freedom,” which means that anything is permitted in the online media (portals). However, the lack of regulation of online media does not imply that violations of professional and ethical standards in journalism are permitted.
Unilateral reporting is also influenced by the closure or non-transparency of institutions and political parties. Although journalists who requested a response from the “second party” and did not receive it frequently disregard the obligation to mention it in their journalistic text/attachment.
Some journalists consciously publish content based on a single source. However, one of the primary causes of inaccurate, unverified, or one-sided information in the media is journalists’ lack of familiarity with professional standards. Some of them have no completed studies or graduated faculties with no connections to journalism, so they believe they are satisfying their “journalistic impulse” by advocating for only one side of the story. Some of the reporters are young and inexperienced in the profession, which is exploited by the editors-in-chief/editors, forcing them to report unilaterally.
Recommendations
A report prepared by The News Check Platform hibrid.info and the Department of Journalism at the University of Pristina makes several recommendations for newsrooms:
- Verification of sources of information;
- Balancing information in journalistic content;
- Prioritizing accuracy over speed when publishing news.
What would be a better and more responsible piece of journalism than looking at the background of the events before publishing the story? This is because the context of the materials shared on the Internet can be manipulative.
Introducing a special editor for fact-checking in editorial offices, as seen in European and American media, would benefit the media system.
According to the quoted text, the media’s financial situation and staffing capacity do not allow them to hire a special editor to verify facts, but this does not mean that journalists/editors should blindly accept whatever they are served
“A good journalist or editor is always suspicious of authorities and the information they provide. This means that news editors, in whatever medium they are, must have their “eyes wide open” so that they do not happen to be refuted, thus questioning the credibility of the audience.
Editors must constantly consult reporters, and if they have dilemmas about the truth of the facts, take their time in publishing the story. They should encourage journalists to seek out additional sources for a more complete picture. This is particularly true when the sources are anonymous or unidentified.”.
The media should not allow the publication of news based on predictions, assumptions, or perplexities expressed by journalists or others about specific events or issues.
(The author is a university professor in journalism and public communications, and a member of the CMEM Complaints Commission.)
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This text has been developed by CMEM within the framework of the project “Building trust in the media in Southeast Europe: supporting journalism as a common good,” funded by UNESCO. The text does not necessarily reflect the views of UNESCO.