ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF JOURNALISM IN PUBLISHING MATERIALS ABOUT WAR VICTIMS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of ethical principles of journalism in publishing materials about war victims. The ethical principles of journalism have always been up-to-date. However, with the beginning of the war in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine in February 2022, it was updated and added new content. In this context, there is a big contradiction in the work of modern media with materials related to the use of photographs and images of territories where active hostilities are taking place and persons who have become victims of war. Journalists seek to cover information about war’s progress, but such information can often harm the military and civilians. The study aims to specify journalism’s ethical principles when publishing materials about war victims. Among the tasks of the research, the following are highlighted: the study of the current state of investigation of the problem of ethical principles of journalism in the publication of materials about war victims; specification of recommendations on the application of ethical principles of journalism in the publication of materials about war victims; analysis of cases of publication of journalistic materials about war victims by their modern ethical principles and recommendations of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics. In determining the principles of journalism in the publication of materials about war victims, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics recommendations were used, which served to become the basis for the journalist’s work within the scope of the legal regime of martial law. These principles take into account the practice of individual Ukrainian media, the positions of the editorial codes of well-known world media, and the guidelines of international journalistic and expert organizations. Based on the recommendations, cases of modern media publications were analyzed for compliance with ethical principles.

Keywords

• ethical principles
• martial law
• journalism
• publication of materials about war victims.