From   spectacularity to journalistic pollutio

Pérez Oliva, Milagros

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

matter. On some occasions, politicians make important statements when the 
debate is o ver or be f ore it begins, but not in front o f the microphone. 
Miravitllas tackles the case of people who are paid to appear on television. 
The ethical problem is not solved by the joumalist saying "no". Of course 
there are modest guests who not only request travelling expenses but also the 
equivalent of the wages they lose due to their television appearance. 
Another behind-the-scenes problem is that television always provides a 
platform of expression for the same people, those who are best known in 
their jobs or professions. 
Finally, the joumalist deals with some questions related to television ethics. 
A question which for the time being he leaves unanswered. 
143 From spectacularity to journalistic pollution 
MILAGROS PÉREZ OLIVA 
In the eyes of the author there are two typologies of problems related to the 
ethics of the journalist. Some can be approached from the point of view of 
individual ethics, and in these cases conscientious objection is an important 
instrument for journalists when faced with extreme situations. Other 
problems affect the truth, equanimity and the rigour of information. These 
problems require collective deontological norms: The adoption of the 
deontological Code by a medium is the best guarantee its receivers can have. 
Application of the Code is a priority objective for obtaining the credibility of 
journalists. 
The author refers to three possible phenomena in joumalistic ethics, all of 
them interrelated: the growing trend towards spectacularity, the 
interdependence of all the media which make up the communications system 
and the subsequent journalistic contamination. Going further into the first 
trend the journalist underlines the "spectacular" way in which news about 
health reaches the media: surprising headlines about biology, genetics which 
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do not reflect the reality of the information. But in this matter, retlects Pérez 
Oliva, journalists should be careful when considering the profession's 
ethical limits and bear in mind that they are part of a mechanism and that 
therefore there exist some collective responsibilities which should be faced 
collectively. This demands a constant exercise o f reflectien and self-
criticism. 
In the field which the author of the article works in - health -the newspapers 
receive many superficial news items related to matters which society is 
worried about, such as Aids and breakthroughs in the iliness. Basic norms of 
prudence demand that this news should be reduced to its "true dimension". 
In the ethics battle, the author calls upon joumalistic enterprises as well as 
the social and political agents which "complain most about news distortions, 
although they do nothing to avoid the confusion, and which they often take 
advantage of', to work together. 
158 _W_e__:J~· o_u_r_n_a_h_· s_ts ____ _ 
JAUME VALLS 
The responsibility of joumalists lies within the framework of the democratic 
principies of freedom of expression and of the right to information protected 
by basic laws. 
"We joumalists", says the author of the present article, "have the enormous 
social responsibility of choosing and communicating the significant events 
which take place in our environment". 
In an ever changing society, the author recalis how in the mid-70s and in the 
years of the democratic transition many journalists developed a relevant role 
in the conformation of a new "sensitive, plural and democratic" public 
opinion. 
Nowadays, in the present situation of consolidated democracy, he believes 
that journalists "have lost the best part of the trust of our fellow citizens as 
points of reference or orientation". 
ANNALS DEL PERIODISME CAT ALÀ 


From spectacularity to journalistic pollution

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Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert