Ethical standards and photography in newspapers

Abstract

Newspaper photography is a very common and important media content that initially attracts the readers' attention and thus influences their opinions about the depicted events. The study of visual content in the media is increasingly important in media theory. Visual content is becoming more dominant because it can efficiently convey a lot of information due to the absence of language barriers. Thus, adherence to professional standards in the publication of newspaper photographs is very important. In Serbia, the only document that regulates the ethical standards of newspaper photography is the Journalists' Code of Ethics, but it is not legally binding on the editorial policy of the media. The consequences of violating its provisions are public warnings issued by the Press Council, an independent self-regulatory body. The results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of newspaper photographs published in three daily newspapers (the serious broadsheet daily Politika, the semi-tabloid Blic, and the tabloid Kurir) have shown to what extent the ethical standards are respected in practice. The research was conducted in the first week of April 2023. The analysis included all photos published during this period, except advertising photos. The analysis of newspaper photos included the following criteria defined in the Journalists' Code of Ethics: whether there is a clear distinction between a documentary photograph and a photo-shopped image; whether the illustrative role of a photo is emphasized when it is not taken directly at the scene of the event; whether the source/authorship of the photo is indicated; whether the principle of presumption of innocence has been applied and whether the privacy and identity of the victim or the suspected offender have been respected (e.g. by not publishing photos) even if the offender has pleaded guilty, until the moment of rendering the final court judgment; whether the published photos were taken with hidden cameras; and whether the photos contain inappropriate, disturbing and pornographic content. The article is based on the hypotheses that ethical standards are not fully met in the newspapers under consideration, that there are more violations of ethical standards in the semi-tabloid and tabloid newspapers, and that the most common violations entail the failure to credit the source or authorship of the photo and disregard for the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy.

Keywords

• newspaper photography
• newspaper
• ethics
• serbian journalists' code of ethics
• professional standards.