The document discusses the guidelines released by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) for their members to follow in order to meet their social and ethical responsibilities. The NUJ guidelines cover sensitive topics like terrorism, race, asylum, and immigration to help journalists represent various groups accurately and avoid negative stereotyping. Journalists who repeatedly fail to follow the NUJ guidelines risk being removed from the union and losing its legal and resources support.

1. The NUJ
Jonah

2. The Importance of Cultural and Social Awareness
Journalists can be very important figures in our society who's opinion and views on situations can shape
the views of others who are exposed to their writings. Because of this they have a duty to take their social,
legal and ethical responsibilities seriously and be mindful of the impact that their work could have on society.
To help journalists, and give them something to refer to if they are unsure of something, the National
Union of Journalists (NUJ) have released a set of guidelines for there members to follow. There is even a hotline
that can be called to talk to someone who can offer advice.
These guides and advice must be followed by journalists to insure they meet their obligations. If a
journalist who is a member of the NUJ repeatedly does not follow the guidelines then they may be thrown out
of the union and lose all the privileges that come with it. These privileges include things like legal backing and
the resources such as the hotline.

3. Social and Cultural Awareness
• Because Journalists write stories that are published nationwide or even worldwide, the
groups of people they write about will always reach people who have had little or no
interaction with the people featured in the news story.
• This gives journalists the very important responsibility of making first introductions. They
must report the news accurately, but must not represent a whole group of people badly. For
example if one illegal immigrant makes it across the border only to thief and fight his way into
prison a journalist must not give the impression that all immigrants are this way.
• Many groups are badly represented in the news and media and this changes social attitude
towards these people in general society.
• The NUJ have compiled a range of ethical guidance sheets so that its members can refer to
them when writing about different groups of people.

4. The NUJ’s Ethical Guidelines.
The NUJ have prepared guidelines for the reporting of;
• Terrorism
• Race
• Asylum and Immigration
• HIV
• Age
• Disability
• Suicide
These guidelines include different do’s and don’ts to assist journalists. In the Asylum
and Immigration section it says to only call an immigrant an “illegal immigrant” if this is
strictly relevant and accurate. All call for a balanced report to be presented, seeking the
opinions of both parts and in the Racism section journalists are asked to take on a measure
of responsibility in fighting the evil of racism.
Guidelines concerning current situations are also released as well as the above seven.
For example there is a set of guidelines for the reporting of Ebola on the NUJ website in the
wake of the recent outbreak.

5. Examples of journalists disregarding their obligations.
• All these headlines give the
impression that this whole group
of people does this.
• For example all Muslims did not
plan to kill the pope.
• And not all people on benefits are
scroungers.

6. Connotation
• When you read a word, your brain does not stop there, doorways are opened to hundreds of
other words, descriptions and opinions you have learnt to associate with this word from your
past experiences.
• This is called “Connotation”.
• Journalists must be mindful of the words they use and the connotations that these words
have in order to make the correct representation of a person or group of people.
• For example because of the negative press around this subject for a long while now, the word
“immigrant” must be used carefully.
• The reason for this is because immigrant has now become too heavily associated with words
such as “illegal”, “Crime”, “Stealing” and “Ban”. Because of this even if the journalist is talking
about a perfectly legal, hard working immigrant, simply by using this word a negative
representation is likely to be made about them.
• A journalist should try to avoid using this words that have negative connotations or if they
are completely relevant and necessary writers should explain the persons situation in order
to cancel out the negative connotations.
• Sometimes of course these words with strong emotive connotations are used purposefully to
manipulate a readers opinion the way a journalist or editor wants them to be.

7. Alternative Readings
• When a journalist writes they must be mindful of the fact that anyone could pick up and read
their article. Because of this they must write in a way that the people they are writing about
would be pleased about as well as the people they are writing for.
• For example, a report on a religious tradition must be properly researched and understood so
that nothing is said that would cause offence or disrespect members of this religion while
educating others about it.

8. Objective.
•Journalism should be unbiased and always present a clear and impartial argument in order for it
to be considered credible.
•When a journalist starts writing their work with a premeditated outcome for it, they will form a
piece of work heavily influenced by their opinion and not a fair, impartial one. This is often done
by including a much larger proportion of evidence supporting their opinion and disregarding
compelling counter arguments.
•The ideal situation would be that no newspapers would publish bias work, but the reality is that
many papers are motivated by their political standings and will write work in order to make their
particular party look the best. Editors will only publish stories that match their political agenda and
will only publish stories that are written in a way that matches this same agenda.
•If you were to compare two articles on the same story from either side of the political spectrum
you would see clear differences in the way they were written.

9. Accurate.
•Professional, Credible journalism must be accurate.
•Simple information like names, dates, quotes and places must all be recorded correctly to be used
in support of the evidence.
•If a piece is written around incorrect facts then it will be inaccurate and can tarnish the reputation
of the responsible journalist, the Newspaper that featured it and the people the story is about.
• If a person feels that an incorrect story has been written about them they can report it to the
Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) who will then, if required, force the publication
to print a correction or retraction, apologising for the mistake.
•In many cases sadly, by this point the damage has already been done and the reputation of the
person involved has already been damaged beyond repair.
•One example in a story published by The Sun openly released photographs and the rough location
of a man who they claimed to be a pedophile, brandishing him “Kid Ban Pervert”. This forced him
to flee his home in fear of being attacked and having to start the process of clearing his name to
his family and everyone he knew.