Media ethics should not be confined to Accuracy, Balance and Credibility: Prof. Regmee

Kathmandu / May 28: Media expert Prof. Rama Krishna Regmee has said that media ethics is not now confined to basic ABC (Accuracy, Balance and Credibility) anymore and should be seen in a broader light.

Speaking at a discussion programme among senior journalists, media educators and regulatory bodies organized by Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Kantipur City College, Regmee said, “In the era of AI-generated content, it is challenging for media to be ethical,” adding, “the Journalist Code of Conduct alone has not been able to address these technological innovations.” He further asks to further continue the discussions on media ethics so as to address the ever-going changes.

Chairman of Press Council Nepal, Balkrishna Basnet, sees that the overall journalism paradigm is getting weak. He remarks that in pursuit of easy journalism the Journalist Code of Conduct is not given due attention. “We still have challenges to fully comply with the Code of Conduct,” he adds, “We journalists have not completely followed professional ethics.”

Media educator Dr. Bhanubhakta Acharya sees conflict of interest of different groups as major issue in debate of media ethics. “Monetizing journalism is now in practice that deletes the context out of news to make it sensational – this is the ugliest form of yellow journalism,” Dr. Acharya of University of Ottawa, Canada adds, “News writing has a basic style of an inverted pyramid giving the major details the first, but now online media or video-journalists hides them somewhere in between or end, which is completely opposite to our practices. This does not suit in the lens of media ethics.”

Senior journalist Babita Basnet questions, “Who sets the agenda for news? This is a question that can help address many issues in media ethics debate.” She complains that the online and social media have a very negative perception towards women and they are targeted more, which needs serious regulation.

Associate Professor at Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Tribhuvan University Dr. Kundan Aryal states, “Today media freedom is compromised by media itself.” He adds that if the media does not have credibility, then the whole media sector would be affected.

The programme was moderated by Abhas Dharananda Rajopadhyaya and the conclusive remarks were made by Dr. Pralhad Karki, Managing Director of Kantipur City College. “This debate is significant first to connect the classroom with newsroom and next to make media more accountable,” Rajiv Timalsina, Deputy Head of Masters of Mass Communication and Journalism (MAMCJ) at Kantipur City College states.