Journalist's ethics. Not so often does this question become a subject of discussion. Sometimes under market conditions when they speak about competition and survival of mass media journalist striving after sensational facts forget about the limits and decencies of what is acceptable, they break unwritten laws and rules which are to be observed in human society. The cases are not infrequent when an indiscreet word uttered by a journalists defeats the fates of people, entails social conflicts. It is an important fact that numerous scientists, researchers, experts started to intensively dwell on this theme; they consider that in the period of formation of new journalism this question ought not to be let out of account in any way. It was just that theme the quest-enlightenment seminars of the series "Professional Ethics of Journalist: Time of Questions" were devoted to being organized by the Tajik filial of the "Open Society" Institute under Soros Fund in Dushanbe and Khujand. On termination of the seminar held in Khujand last week its leader, the well-known Russian expert in the field of mass-media Yuri Kazakov gave an exclusive interview for "Varorud" newspaper.
- The theme "Professional Ethics of Journalist" is rather actual today. Don't the present principles of professional ethics seem to You to be contradicting to the situations journalists found themselves in? Being poorly provided, many journalists making their living are compelled to do ordered publications going counter to any principles.
- Journalism began to turn into profession when I understood that there is professional ethics of journalists. Now we have a good command in technologies, we comprehend that there are a lot of problems. But we realize much worse what professional ethic is, what is a distinction of journalism from many other professions, social ones inclusive. The problem which leaped into existence in many countries is reduced to the goal of researching professional ethics being incident to any social preoccupation.
It's no secret for anyone that ordered articles bring money. And now peculiar ways of survival seem to exist for journalists. But suddenly it becomes clear that articles written to order undermine mass-media reputation. It is one-day-thinking. In three days it is seen vividly that reputation is blemished. For MM ordered articles are a guarantee for your reputation being defeated. One can acquit it in different ways. You may be reasoning on an interim situation when one needs to support somehow the space you've found yourself in, on the costs of the transitional period. But that one who stops first and starts to search honest money under his activity preserves reputation and strengthens his informational business.
- Do You consider that the ethics of journalism should take into account national traditions?
- First of all, we speak about professional morality. All kinds of journalism existing in the would try to take into consideration certain conditions: local surroundings, the peculiar circumstances separate categories of journalists work under. But there should be always an endeavour to examine that space a journalist works in and to do so that these norms didn't contradict to general ones but permitted to work. In the course of this seminar we ascertained that the professional ethics of the journalists of Tojikiston didn't go counter any commonly acceptable journalistic norms when sizing up different principles of international codes and measuring them to ourselves. The problem doesn't lie in the contents of a code, nor in the stance local journalists are to keep to but can't. As a rule, the matter is that it is the form of material delivery that counts - mentality, culture and peculiarities of perception ought to be held in view.
- Should there be, to Your mind, some especial restraining factor for publication?
- There is a legislative restraining factor and that one being of the most powerful force - that is public opinion, perception of society by journalist. There exists one more factor called journalist's self-censorship, first and foremost, it concerns a journalist of that society which undergoes a complicated stage of development. And only the fourth item for me lies in the grounds of professional ethics of journalists; the formers being none yet. First of all, ethics itself should appear, evince through common comprehension of principles. For the time being it's difficult to speak about it, insomuch as in the best case we work on the level of sound mind.
- What is Your attitude to censorship and self-censorship?
- My attitude to censorship is negative, and as for self- censorship, it is double as much negative. In Russia I have always to tell journalists that self-censorship is just the same enemy of journalist as censorship. Self-censorship is quite different. Professional ethics is more like freedom than barbed wire and only after that it is responsibility I can't recommend a perception of professional ethics as barbed wire because it does not correspond to the nature of the free and responsible profession. Here I can dwell on self-censorship too. The journalists of Tojikiston work in the regime of understanding, journalism, the latter has not been recovered yet from heavy social shocks. Journalist himself/herself sets limits for his/her actions. For the time being it is more like self-censorship that self-control. Regretfully, here there is that very situation.
- Because of time deficiency You had no availability to familiarize Yourself with the work of out journalists, but You met with them. How, in Your opinion, do our journalists think, does their thinking respond to the requirements of the time? How do You estimate the level of their professionalism?
- It seem to me very important that we have discussed many problems, delivered ourselves of the opinions on many issues and given an attentive ear to the opinions of others comparing them when sitting together at the same table. When we spoke about concrete professional norms we saw that these norms were comprehended by Khujand journalists as all over Tojikiston. Both here and there they say about one and the same comprehension being close to the European one or merely coinciding with it. One may speak about bad or good journalism, but for the time being we have turned out to be unable to dwell on a specific journalism, say Central Asian one. No tokens of it were revealed except some peculiarities of delivery of forms where one should be subtler, more polite in reference to reader.
- What is Your attitude to "yellow" press?
- "Yellow" press is a quite normal phenomenon in any society. There, where human interest springs up in all its profundity, there where man but not concentration camp prisoner appears, "yellow" press arises inevitably. The problem lies not in "yellowness", but in the boundaries it is admitted to enter being guided by human curiosity. As a rule, it is not even law that confines "yellow" press, but society itself. Journalist must simply understand - that what brings dividends today may deliver damage tomorrow.
- What's, in Your opinion, the use of conducting similar seminars for "mass-mediaers"?
- Such seminars help the community of journalists to try in articulating their own idea about the profession they embark on. People often come to our domain having a wrong notion about journalism, they imagine profession to be equal to literature, or simply they look upon it as an ordinary job. Nowadays such an approach is spread then one can not to be a professional journalist, but one can work in journalism. Such seminars help to become conscious of the idea that journalism is a profession with certain foundations of its own. One should perceive journalism as a profession existing already over hundred years and having its own professional code.