【明報專訊】Media ethics refer to the guidelines that the media adopt for self-regulation to safeguard the public interest. One of these guidelines is objective, impartial and factual reporting. The media sometimes find themselves caught up in the conflicts of different stakeholders. The media might, for example, think that the public's right to know should override the interests of the people concerned, and therefore choose to uncover the scandals of politicians. But this leads to concerns about the infringement of people's private lives and privacy.

Right to know vs. Privacy

After reviewing Hong Kong's ten public registers(公共登記冊), the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (個人資料私隱專員) found in 2015 that only two of them had mechanisms in place to prevent private data from being misused. Worried that such data would encourage the digging up of personal information and cyber-bullying, the commissioner suggested all government departments should consider publishing only partial information such as addresses and identity card numbers. The Hong Kong Journalists Association(香港記者協會), however, was against the move, saying that a company search was an effective way to investigate activities that were illegal or aimed at enabling someone to shirk legal responsibilities. The association claimed that the mechanism had never been abused.

Fake news

The Chicago Tribune, an American newspaper, was once found to buy cheap services from news provider Journatic (now called LocalLabs), resulting in fabricated news in its regional versions. A senior journalist said that the news industry has laid off a lot of staff in order to save costs, and this affects news quality. He said that the internet has made the spread of information faster and fabricating news easier.

Kau Yim(求驗傳媒), a facebook page, targets fake news. In an interview its members said that "What interests us is why people easily believe unsubstantiated information. Why some conventional media groups publish rumours and just say that they are rumours on the internet or views by netizens instead of verifying them?" Apart from content farms(內容農場), conventional media groups should not be taken at face value(信以為真) either, as in the past what the media did was "If in doubt, leave it out". Now it is "if in doubt, print it out or share it out" simply by adding the words 'it is a rumour on the internet'.

Social media has given fake news and rumours a level of exposure that they have never enjoyed before. In a study conducted by Oxford University in June 2017, it was found that lies and falsehoods were spread on the internet with the help of fake accounts on facebook or Twitter. Furthermore, messages are displayed in a way that suits users' preferences, conveying one-sided information.

Related concepts:

．information literacy

．personal conduct

．truth

[通通識 第478期]