The Code Of Ethics Of The Washington Post

Defining ethics can be a dilemma, in a generic sense ethics are a set of rules that abides the people and in a way shows how people should act in certain situations. But it is much more complicated than that. A lot of questions tend to be asked when it comes to acting ‘ethically’: who makes these rules? Are these rules objective or subjective? Do ethics consist of strict and direct rules, is it considered as black-or-white matter, or are there grey areas and loopholes in these rules?

Mackie (2007, p 15) has straightforwardly claimed that “there are no objective values”, and said that people would react differently to this statement. Some people will believe that the statement is malicious, that it threatens the common goodness in the world.

It says that no story is fair if it omits facts of major importance, includes irrelevant information at the expense of significant facts, or misleads or deceives the reader. It also values ‘freedom, humaneness, stewardship, responsibility and regard for the rights of others’ and instructs journalists to ‘do no direct harm’, to strive to prevent harm and to render needed assistance.” (Alia, 2004, p11)

As mentioned above, the ethical ground in the media differs from one culture to the other. For example, a journalist working for the Lebanese daily newspaper Annahar has reported about a private gay marriage ceremony. The reporter claimed that she has witness the whole formal procedure. When the news was published on the online edition of the newspaper the public was enraged. Same-sex marriage is a major problem as being a homosexual is considered a crime in the country.

Shortly after the backlash Annahar deleted the news piece and the reporter said that she had fabricated the story, which in return blemished the credibility of the newspaper. (Abu-Fadil, 2014)

“While ethical questions may remain relatively constant over time, the underlying principles must be considered and reconsidered internationally and transculturally.” (Alia, 2004,