1. Introduction
The online seminar on Ethical Journalism in the Digital Age was organized by Rwanda Journalists Association (ARJ) supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), and the School of Journalism at the University of Rwanda (UR). The training aimed to address the challenges and ethical conflicts faced by young journalists in the era of social media and new technologies. It provided journalists with valuable insights into the challenges and ethical conflicts faced by media practitioners in the era of social media and new technologies. The seminar also explored the role of journalism in minimizing harm in society, even in an era where violence often dominates media content.
2. Training Details
– Training Goal: To examine the status of ethical communication and explore the pressures on ethical journalism due to social media and new technologies. It highlighted three important ethical conflicts:
o Preserving truth while gathering and sharing information in rapidly changing circumstances.
o Maintaining and honoring news media fairness and justice principles when faced with social forces that challenge those principles.
o Assessing whether an institution that benefits from violence can also contribute to minimizing harm in society.
– Dates: 29th January 2021
– Venue: Zoom
– Participants: A total of 25 journalists participated in the training, including 5 females and 15 males.
– Partners:
o RGB
o RMC
o RURA
o School of journalisms – UR.
3. Objectives
The training had the following objectives:
– To identify ethical dilemmas, describe the choices faced by Rwandan media practitioners, and explain the moral implications of each choice.
– To apply key ethical concepts such as truthfulness, fairness, respect, autonomy, integrity, and transparency in resolving ethical dilemmas.
– To evaluate ethical decisions in newsrooms, considering factual accuracy, historical context, and social impact.
– To analyze how new and rapidly evolving technologies impact ethical considerations in journalism.
4. Expected Outcomes
By the end of the seminar, the participants gained a deeper understanding of the importance of adhering to ethical principles and the role of journalism in minimizing harm in society. The seminar achieved the following outcomes:
– Increased awareness and confidence in maintaining independence and adhering to ethical principles when dealing with false information, sensitive material, or attempts to influence their work by vested interests.
– Understanding the connection between applying ethical principles and the trust placed by the audience in journalism.
– Reinforced belief that gaining trust involves expanding sources of stories, particularly those representing vulnerable people’s voices who often lack spaces to express their opinions.
– Reaffirmed commitment to media professionalism and the importance of accuracy and independence in reporting.
5. Lessons Learned
Throughout the training, participants learned that their maintaining media professionalism and uphold ethical standards in their future work they gain some key takeaways that included:
– Journalists’ acknowledgement to the importance of upholding ethical principles, even in the face of challenges posed by social media and new technologies.
– The need for journalists to be vigilant in verifying information, especially in rapidly changing circumstances, to ensure the preservation of truth.
– Recognizing the influence of social forces on fairness and justice in journalism and finding ways to uphold those principles in the face of such challenges.
– Media practitioners’ understanding that responsible journalism can play a role in minimizing harm in society, even if media institutions often rely on violence for attention.
6. Recommendations
Based on the training discussions, the following recommendations were made:
– Journalists should continue to prioritize independence and adhere to ethical principles when confronted with false information, sensitive material, or attempts to influence their work.
– Media personnel have to strengthen efforts to establish and maintain trust with the audience by consistently applying ethical principles in reporting.
– They should expand sources of stories to ensure diverse representation, particularly for vulnerable people’s voices who lack opportunities to express their opinions in society.
– Journalists should always promote accuracy and independence in reporting to increase the credibility of journalism.
– There is a need to foster collaboration between journalists and organizations working on technology development to address the ethical implications of new and rapidly evolving technologies.
7. Meet the trainers or Speakers
– Mr. Wellars Bakina, the Lecturer at the University of Rwanda (UR), School of Journalism.
– Mr. Cleophas Barore, tne Chairperson of Rwanda Media Commission (RMC).