The Real Power of the Press (by Hernán Ruiz)

      

Together with the three powers of the democratic system, legislative, executive and judicial, the press has gained a fourth place and it is widely known as the fourth power. Its force has developed considerably during the last century and it has even been able to impeach some presidents, after the disclosure of dirty affairs of political and even sexual connotations. Words are not just symbols or grouped sounds, they are powerful instruments of communication. In the press code of ethics, the use of these powerful symbols is measured by two principles, objectivity and independence being the most important ones. Objectivity when writing prevents subjective consideration of any situation in order not to influence the readers, and independence is crucial to avoid being controlled by others in the manner the news will be presented or, what is more, whether it will be presented at all. These two principles go hand in hand, and the deficiency of one would represent the lack of the other. And although the press is said to be an independent power, many pressures are put on it, which bias and influence the news report so as to comfort or please different interests coming from the government, private companies or advertisers. This sharing of power seems to put the press ethics at risk, thus, ruining its credibility.

Words are made up of two dimensions, “action” –transforming the world, and “reflection” upon that action (Paulo Freire, 1993). When people interact, they do so by relating their perceptions of reality, and they act upon the interpretation of common knowledge, the real state of things being reinforced by their respective sensing. The press has in its hands the responsibility to use the language appropriately, without privileging any side, for it is totally responsible for forming public opinion. The only way to achieve this is by following its basic precepts of objectivity and independence. These rules are a model through which newswriters can measure their performance. These moral rules have been agreed by in order to obtain the highest standards of professional conduct. The real function of newspapers is to verify, sieve and deliver unbiased facts to readers without personal influence from their writers. The need of the readers to rely on the objectivity of newspaper writers is paramount, for newspapers are a relevant source of information for business men, politicians and ordinary people to obtain fair information. Independence –freedom in the press domain from control or influence from others would mean in the case of the press that: “Newspapers should accept nothing of value from news sources or others outside the profession.” (Statement of Ethical Principles, 1999). Gifts and free or reduced-rate travel, entertainment, products and any other pressing present should not be accepted by newspapermen to avoid feeling any kind of pressure when it comes to writing something in favour of these institutions. But in our present day, this does not seem to be the rule, and this behaviour puts the print media ethics in danger.

As mentioned before, an element of relevance for the press is its autonomy. Only by being autonomous, will the printed media be able to fulfil its ethical principles of objectivity and independence. Judgement based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by personal emotions or external influences is a key element for any newspaper, for the press is responsible for the providing of reliable data. But many interests lie in the way to control what should or should not be written and even the mode it should be presented to the readers. Many times advertisers and the companies they represent -the ones who provide the biggest incomes to any newspaper, suggest what kind of articles could suit their products better, so that the advertisements should be placed more strategically within the paper, thus, pressing the editors to change and remove the articles which could damage their image. In many countries across the world, governments put pressure on the press by not advertising in their papers if they do not like the way they treat the information related to their decisions and policies, which represent a huge loss of money coming from that source. This notorious interference in the autonomy of the printed media erodes its elemental ethical precepts. The role of the press in any society is to act like a big eye which helps to preserve the moral basis of that society, providing the right to be well informed that any citizen has. The obligation of any newspaper is to be accurate, honest, fair responsible and decent. Truth should be its guiding principle. The press should serve as a constructive critic of all segments of society, reflecting in its coverage, its diverse constituents. It should expose duplicity or misuse of power, public or private. If the choice of the information to be presented and the way it is presented is influenced by economic or political forces in order to please their interests, its ethic will be under a serious risk.

The importance of the print media in the formation of public opinion has a remarkable power and influence in any modern society. Through the discovery and clarification of political and economic anomalies, the press has gained its prestige based on the credibility of its readers. Economic and political pressures on the press seem to deteriorate its independence while informing, and directly weaken its key ethical principle of objectivity. This disturbance in the normal development of this institution seems to put the real function of any newspaper –informing freely and without external intervention, at risk. Biased and influenced news reports are not helpful to any society, for they do not reflect the real state of affairs taking place in a certain time in history, and they only lead to confusion, misunderstanding and disbelief of the target readers.

Bibliography

·         What Power of the Press? http://www.theguardian.co.uk

·         Freire, Paulo (1993). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Penguin Books. London

·         (I do not remember the name of the book you lent me.)

·         Media Communication and Ethics. http://presscouncil.nic.in/speech

·         Journalism and Media Ethics. http://comslaw.org.au