INDUSTRY CODES OF PRACTICE

NUJ Codes for Journalists

Maryam LatifiYear 13 A2 Media Production and Communication

NUJ CODES FOR JOURNALISTS

The codes of journalists are primarily a set of rules and obligations that must be legally followed by all journalists when doing their work. The codes of conduct must be signed by all journalists who join the National Union of Journalists and the signature is a way for them agreeing that they will and must comply to the codes of conduct and any breach of the Codes of Conduct would be a sackable offence.

As professionals, they must follow the following codes of conduct.A journalist:1) CODE 1: Must do their every effort to make sure that the information, which is spread widely out in the public is

honestly conveyed, accurate and fair.

How did I make sure this was upheld in my work?

The information that I obtained from my interviewees for my documentary, which will be published on Blogger is honestly conveyed by asking my interviewees open questions so that they can talk about anything relevant to my documentary in as much as detail and sincerity as possible.

By watching my documentary, it becomes obvious that the information the interviewees provide is genuine and their own personal opinion, which makes my documentary conform to the NUJ Codes of Journalists.

The accuracy and fairness of the information that is provided is entirely determined on what my I say in my documentary, as a presenter and what my interviewees say. Through researching more broader information about my topic I could talk in my documentary more about real and precise issues around my subject matter. For instance, the objectification of women and using Keera, the unsigned artists as a musician that provides a contrasting image of the females who were revealing in the music videos that I have included in my documentary.

Keera’s image is a way of conveying to the target audience the message that not all females are influenced by the sexually explicit music videos. There may well be a lot of females being very feminine and seductive but there are also females who are the opposite of what I was exploring in my documentary.

This makes the information that is provided in my documentary fair, accurate and honest because I have no intentions to lie or make up the issues around the topic that I have explored in my documentary.

I have also provided evidence through using YouTube music videos to demonstrate my honesty, accuracy and fairness to my target audience.

Source: http://media.gn.apc.org/nujcode.html

CODE 1: MUST DO THEIR EVERY EFFORT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INFORMATION, WHICH IS SPREAD WIDELY OUT IN THE PUBLIC IS HONESTLY CONVEYED, ACCURATE AND FAIR.

How did this effect my work?

To comply to this code, my work was effected by this as I had to make sure I found different interviewees from different backgrounds, which enabled me to provide my target audience polarized opinions about my subject matter. But, I knew that their opinion was honest, accurate and fair because I made sure I interviewed experts individuals who were either experts or my friends, which I could trust and I knew that the information they would provide was 100% honestly conveyed, accurate and fair.

But, the possible constraints or obstacles that could occur was that if these interviewees were cancelled or they did not agree to participate in my documentary, I would be left with less interviewees and my documentary would be seriously effected by this as I wouldn’t have Sadiq Khan or perhaps Keera as my interviewees.

This would mean that I had to find and research other interviewees who did almost the same roles as my selected interviewees or I may have even altered my initiatives.

However, this code effected my work in a positive way too as I had no chance to lie, make things up or include information, which was inaccurate and unfair. The main purpose of my documentary is to shed light on the amount of videos there are online particularly on YouTube that consists of sexually explicit music videos. Therefore, conveying information honestly, precisely and fairly was vital for my documentary or else my target audience or viewers would not belief anything what my interviewees or I say in the documentary. This would also lose my target audience’s interest if my documentary was full of lies and unbalanced debates or dialogues. It wouldn't look professional either.

Most importantly, through the use of Mr. Sadiq Khan and my other interviewees I demonstrated honest, accuracy and fairness through them.

CODE 2: DIFFERENTIATES BETWEEN FACTS AND OPINIONS How did I make sure this was upheld in my work?

In my documentary at the beginning of each new interview I made sure that I presented to my target audience that I’m going to obtain the opinions of my interviewees and introduced my interviewees to my target audience. This was essential as I complied to the NUJ codes of conduct as it wants me to differentiate between fact and opinion.

Likewise, the aim and intentions of my documentary was mainly to obtain the polarized opinions of my different interviewees to develop my subject matter even more so that it conveys to my target audience that my topic is a real issue that is being discussed in more depth by many people including highly qualified experts and professionals such as Mr. Sadiq Khan who is a Labour MP.

It is important to mention that even by watching my documentary the differentiation between facts and opinions is obvious because I have primarily obtained personal beliefs and judgments of different individuals that is not founded on proof or certainty.

CODE 2: DIFFERENTIATES BETWEEN FACTS AND OPINIONS

How did this effect my work?

The code of conduct 2, effected my work as it meant that I had to record at the beginning of each interview a voice over mentioning that ’’I am going to interview Keera to ask for her opinion on what she thinks about this matter’’. This was the best way to clarify in my work the difference between facts and opinions was to mention it.

As I did not require any facts for my documentary the polarized opinions of the interviewees were the most dominant sources in my documentary and which I was also entirely dependent on.

Another way that the differentiation between facts and opinions effected my work was that I had to make sure my target audience were aware that my documentary was about the opinions of different people. I have done this by presenting at the beginning of my documentary what my documentary was about, what I was doing and who I am going to interview at each stage starting from the introduction to the conclusion.

Also through the use of open questions my interviewees could provide me with qualitative data that was highly valuable to me and my target audience for my documentary.

If I did have included facts it would be obvious because I would have included statistics and the word ’’fact’’ in the sentences or in my documentary. I would make it clear by the use of bold typography and text if I had used facts instead of opinions.

CODE 3: OBTAINS MATERIAL BY HONEST, STRAIGHTFORWARD AND OPEN MEANS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF INVESTIGATIONS THAT ARE BOTH OVERWHELMINGLY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND WHICH INVOLVE EVIDENCE THAT CANNOT BE OBTAINED BY STRAIGHTFORWARD MEANS.

How did I make sure this was upheld in my work?

The code of conduct 3 was conformed in the following ways:

-My interviewees were aware of me filming them because the camera was visible and positioned right in front of them.

I asked for their permission to be interviewed and that their footage will be published on blogger. They gave me their permission by signing my letters.

They were aware that I was going to film them by notifying it to them through emails, texts and phone calls prior our meeting or interview.

-My documentary was investigative but there was no need for me to be covert and film undercover without straightforward means.

-I was aware that the quality of my recorded footage would be bad and that undercover filming with no straightforward means is also illegal and it is only necessary for when evidence need to be provided to the Crown Prosecution Service when illegal practice is conducted. For instance, in police TV programs or Panorama.

How did this effect my work?

This had an effect on my work as I was disabled to film uncover or if in the event that I had no permission to film anywhere I couldn't have film uncover either, which would leave me disadvantaged. For instance, the Panorama documentary about the Winterbourne residential care home was filmed undercover but that was conducted for legal justifications as the setting was mistreating their patients. My documentary was more about obtaining the valuable opinions of the experts and the wider public such as my Vox Pops with straightforward and open means .

These images are two examples of undercover filming in documentaries such as Panorama-Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed but my documentary didn’t had to meet the conventions of such documentaries.