THE STUDY AND IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA ETHICS

Abstract

Media is acting as a bridge between the state and public. It plays a role of informer, motivator or
leader for healthy democracy at all levels. Ethics are the inner superintendent decent moralities,
ideals and opinions that people use to analyses or interpret a situation and then decide what is the
right way to behave. It is free to discharge their duties in the society but media needs to follow ethics
in collecting and disseminating the news by ensuring objectivity and fairness in reporting of
information to society.
Media Ethics is concerned with how a moral media person should behave. The media ethics are
values like trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, truth and self-restraint to be practiced by
the media people voluntarily, to preserve and promote the trust of the people and to maintain their
own credibility and not betray the faith and confidence of the people. This study is descriptive in
nature. The paper focuses on study of Media Ethics and its Importance. The secondary data is
collected for this study from books, journals, websites, research papers. Media ethics are important
for proper broadcasting, avoiding misrepresentation of information, to avoid conflict of interest. It is
important o promote universal values, truthfulness, accountability and rule of law of equality.
Maturity in ethics progresses by identifying values, topics and judging several advices and enduring
the other viewpoints on them (Alia 2004)” A person does not one day just become ethical’. Individual
grow ethically just as they grow physically and intellectually (Merrill 2011 p.30).A further study is
needed and a proper rules and legislations should be framed for media ethics at universal level to
protect the interest of individual and society