2. Social and Cultural Awareness
• In many unions and journalism standards guides, those who work in journalism are
expected to write pieces that are not intended to discriminate or incite hatred
against people from certain backgrounds. This includes people from a different
ethnic background, creed, colour, those who are from a certain social or economic
background and the disabled. Because there are many in the population that may
have had no contact with someone from one of these backgrounds, it is easy for
journalists to write a piece or an article that paints them in a bad light, which
allows the reader to be easily influenced to believe in this way.
• The NUJ codes of conduct state that certain slang terms or language must not be
used to describe a group of people and offers a set of standards to be used
instead. This can range from using racist terms to generalizing a group of people
with an unfair label, such as referring to teenaged boys as ‘yobs’ or ‘thugs’ as this
is saying that all teenage boys cause trouble which is untrue.
• The union offers a conduct guide that gives correct terms to be used when
describing a certain group of people. For example, when reporting on immigrants,
the correct term for them should be used, so a group of immigrants looking for
work in the UK cannot be described as refugees and asylum seekers, which are
terms used to describe people who have come to a different country for safety if
they are under threat in their homeland.
4. Connotation
• One of the most important considerations when writing an article is the language
used. Thanks to association and stereotyping there have been many labels applied
to certain groups that can be now seen as offensive and discriminatory, and are no
longer suitable for professional writing. Journalists should take care to avoid slang
and nicknames, and use the correct term for the different social groups that they
write about to avoid coming off as derogatory.
• Some examples of groups who are regularly subject to criticism thanks to unfair
connotations are benefit claimants, the disabled and the elderly. Benefit claimants
should be referred to as such, and not as ‘scroungers’ or ‘on the dole’ as these
portray such people as cheap, sleazy and workshy, which is unfair generalization.
5. Alternative Responses
• When a piece or an article is written, the author usually has one or two certain
audiences in mind to cater/appeal to, by accommodating similar agendas and
beliefs. However, there is nothing to prevent an unintended audience from reading
the article with the possibility of causing offence, distress or upset resulting from
the viewpoint in the article, which may conflict this audience’s personal views or
discriminate against them. This is especially prevalent in newspapers on the far
ends of the political spectrum such as the Guardian and the Daily Mail, who will
cover subjects such as immigration, benefits and the European Union in very
different lights. It is important to consider how the article might be received by
these unintended audiences.
• For example, articles that paint immigration in a negative light (common in right-wing
newspapers) may be read by said immigrants in the UK, who may feel
discriminated against by the media and by extent the general populace. This is also
very commonly felt by those who claim benefits thanks to the negative stigma and
association with laziness and fraud, which may lead people who need the support
of the government to refrain from claiming them in fear of being associated with
these stereotypes.
6. Objective
• In professional journalism, news stories should not be prejudiced or biased against a
certain group or subject as it constitutes an unfair report and portrayal of an event,
where information from the other side may be pushed aside in favor of the
publication’s preferred side. Journalists will also be selective about the evidence of a
story, choosing parts that fit their own or their publication’s views and use them in the
story, leaving out truthful information that happens to be more in favor of an
unfavorable side.
• All stories should have a fair portrayal and should not be pushed aside in favor of other
stories. Often in newspapers, stories that are unfavorable will be less prevalent than
others, and sometimes will not be shown at all.
• Most newspapers are aligned to either the left or right wing of the political spectrum
and often carefully choose/write their stories to fit with the views of their chosen wing.
For example, the right wing is more based on traditions and old world values, and sees
immigration as a threat to the identity of a country. Right-wing based newspapers such
as the Express and the Daily Mail report on subjects like immigration with extreme
disdain, often making it headline news with sensationalist taglines to incite prejudice
from its readers, who often have right-wing views on immigrants and foreigners and
believe that they shouldn’t be allowed in so easily, if at all.
7. Accurate
• Because people assume that what is published in a newspaper is completely true,
publications should publish accurate names, times, dates and quotes and use
them correctly. Failure to do so can often have dire consequences, such as warping
a story so that it no longer makes sense or makes a different person seem worse in
hindsight. Inaccurate reporting can result in misleading information and the wrong
interpretation of a story.
• Misleading/false information can also lead to defamation of a person and damage
their image by making an act by them worse than it actually is. This can lead to
lawsuits and legal action against the offending publication because they caused
distress or damages.
• For example, there are some stories are published to demonize immigration by
claiming that migrants cost the UK more than they contribute themselves. What
these reports fail to report is that the figures they publish stretch back all the way
to the 1950s, when the report claims the figures relate to the 1995-2011 period.
