My View on the Ethic Codes of Journalists

There is a point in all profession where you are forced back against the wall as a human being, journalist is no exception.

Journalists are supposed to record what goes on, however, in trying to get the best record they can, they may sometimes seem amazingly cold-blooded. To test journalists’ ethic codes, an event happened not long ago in China could well bear this responsibility. The whole story went like this: a woman was raped by a member of the neighborhood Joint Defense Force, while bizarrely, the husband of the victim just hid several meters away behind the door and dared not to stop the perpetrator. It’s a “good” story for the journalists. On one hand, the political environment at the time was that people had a “zero tolerance” towards the civil servants like the perpetrator, any small mistakes they commit would be amplified and people involved would be criticized sharply; on the other hand, the husband’s incredible weakness also raised a heated discussion. To probe into the truth, hundreds of journalists gathered around the bed of the victim who had attempted suicide several times, they bombarded her with questions like “How do you feel when he raped you?” “Someone said that you fornicated with the perpetrator, is it true?” “Will you divorce with your husband?” In terms of profession, these journalists are undoubtedly devoted ones; however in their way to get the truth, they also lost their ethics as a human being, actually, in my eyes, the journalists’ inquiries was another rape for the victim, unlike the body rape, it was on dignity this time, which was even more crucial. We welcome all truths, but if the truths are just to meet people’s curiosity and to get them we sacrifice others’ privacy, dignity or even life, we would rather remain ignorant of the truths.

My view on the ethic codes of journalists is that being a man before you become a journalist, when trying to get the truth, respect for man is the prerequisite, including man’s life, dignity,...