How to preserve journalism ethics in a world of AI

Mark O'Neill September 26, 2024 22:40

How does a journalist retain his ethical standards in the new world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), fake news, conspiracies theories and disinformation?

The answer is provided in a new book published by Hong Kong University Press – “Journalism Ethics: 21 Essentials from Wars to Artificial Intelligence” by Eric Wishart, Standards and Ethics Editor and former editor-in-chief of Agence France-Presse (AFP), the international news agency.

Few people in the world are better qualified to write this book.

“I have worked 40 years for AFP, half of its existence since it was re-established in 1944,” he told a launch event in Hong Kong on Friday.

“I wrote it because I found that there was no comparable book on ethics that covered all the latest issues, including AI, representation of women and safety of journalists. I wrote it for those who are journalists, those who are studying to become one and people outside the profession who can see what ethical journalism standards should be,” he said.

In addition to his work at AFP, Wishart teaches journalism at Hong Kong University and HK Baptist University. He was the first non-French editor-in-chief in AFP’s history, is a judge for the Hong Kong News Awards and SOPA Awards, and served as president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong. He regularly speaks at international conferences on media ethics, combating misinformation, and restoring public trust in the media.

The book has 21 chapters, including duty of care and minimising harm: representation of women: gender and sexual orientation: disability and mental health: artificial intelligence: safety and wars and conflicts.

In the preface, Wishart explains that he started his career as a trainee journalist in Scotland 50 years ago. “The concepts of ‘minimising harm’ and ‘duty of care’ to those whom you were covering and their families were alien to the journalism culture of that time, and they still are to some sectors of the media,” he wrote.

He spent 12 years in Scottish newspapers, mainly at the Lennox Herald and Paisley Daily Express. In 1984, he bought a one-way air ticket from Glasgow to Paris, where he joined the English desk of AFP.

"Three decades later, ethical issues surrounding coverage of an attack on the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo showed that our AFP code needed to be updated and expanded to meet the challenges of the social media age", he said.

Amateur footage of a policeman being killed in the street by the gunmen as they fled the scene raised several ethical questions about the use of graphic images, the duty of care to victims and their families, and responsibility to people who record and upload content.

AFP’s global news director, Michèle Léridon, asked him to draw up a document outlining guiding editorial principles (AFP Charter), a new ethics code (AFP Editorial Standards and Best Practices), and a document dedicated to the use of sources (20 Principles of Sourcing). They agreed that transparency was essential to help foster public trust, so all three documents could be posted online in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, and Spanish.

These principles form the basis of the new book – accuracy, seeking the truth, impartiality and fairness, transparency in correcting errors, independence, duty of care, accountability, avoiding conflicts of interest and not profiting by taking cash or gifts in exchange for coverage.

The global spread of social media brought new challenges, with Donald Trump and authoritarian leaders and politicians using the term "fake news" as a weapon to disparage critical coverage. Public trust in traditional sources of news was eroded when disinformation and conspiracy theories flooded social media.

During COVID-19, people were deluged with bogus claims and conspiracy theories about treatments, vaccines and the origins of the virus. “The pandemic showed how essential it was for journalists to provide verified information so that people could make informed decisions about their health. It was important to avoid amplifying dangerous, ill-informed rhetoric that could, and did, lead to deaths,” Wishart said.

Wishart included a chapter on safety, which he describes as the most important practical consideration in journalism.

“Journalists have an ethical duty to be properly trained and equipped when they enter a hostile environment so that they do not pose a danger to themselves and those around them and can administer basic first aid in an emergency.

“During the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, AFP introduced mandatory hostile environment, training for all journalists covering wars and other danger zones. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is now recognised as a condition requiring treatment,” he said.

Wishart also stressed the importance of increasing the representation of women in newsrooms and media coverage, and quoted studies showing that barely a quarter of the voices heard in the media belong to women. He also devotes a chapter to the coverage of gender and sexual orientation, and warns against the stigmatisation of entire communities, such as trans people, by the selective use of isolated and negative stories.

In keeping with the times, Wishart wrote the book in largely gender-neutral language.

Each chapter ends with a summary of the key points and has three questions to test the reader's understanding of the principles that were covered.

Mark O'Neill

A Hong Kong-based writer, teacher and speaker.