The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring ethical journalism aimed at making available the most accurate information to the public served by the profession.
This commitment was avowed in the forum’s recent ethics and credibility online conference.
The online conference was necessitated by an inquiry into media credibility and ethics that was commissioned by the forum in 2019.
The outcome of the inquiry provided a report that saw it necessary for an engagement of stakeholders including but not limited to members of the editors’ forum and civil society to undertake an urgent formulation of a five-year plan to encourage the practice of journalism of high ethical and quality standards.
According to keynote speaker Justice Bernard Ngoepe, the journalism profession has a responsibility to make a positive contribution to society, which is an objective that cannot have room for question.
“Determine a particular objective because that objective is going to be your point of reference, it’s going to guide your behaviour. So, what is your point of reference as a journalist in the course of your execution of your duties? Your point of reference is achieving a perfect society,” Ngoepe said.
He also alluded to the importance of the media’s objective remaining in alignment with its code of ethics.
“Your rules of ethics must be reconcilable with your objective. If any rule of ethics says to you ‘go that way,’ even if the law allows you to do that, but that direction which a little voice in your mind says, ‘take it’ – if that direction is irreconcilable with your known, clear objective then don’t go there,” Ngoepe added.
