Download PDF - International Center for Journalists

Journalism Ethics: The Global Debate
of Indian governance and ethics.” But
he also laments that the web site itself
was the only real casualty of the
expose.
Case Study: Kosovo
Getting Past “No”
Ever since the Kosovo war ended in
1999, Berat Buzhala—and many other
journalists in the semi-independent
Balkan republic—wanted to get into
the Dubrava Prison. Serbian police
had massacred more than 100
prisoners there after a NATO
bombing. A reporter for Zeri
newspaper, Buzhala wanted to talk to
inmates and find out what the prison
was like now. But every time he asked
for permission to visit, he was
rejected.
In February 2003, he got his chance
to visit the prison—but it wasn’t as a
journalist. Buzhala was a graduate of
the University of Prishtina Law School,
and, in addition to reporting for Zeri,
he was working as an apprentice to a
lawyer. The Kosovo Chamber of
Lawyers held a series of workshops
and training sessions that included a
visit to Dubrava Prison.
“I let my bosses know of my
reservations as to whether
writing about the prison
would be ethical at all, since
i would be abusing my
internship...however, there
would be no other way I
would have been able to
write about the prison.”
-Berat Buzhala
The program coordinator and the
other apprentices knew that Buzhala
was also a journalist, but no one
inside the prison did. The group
interviewed the director of the prison,
then talked with guards and prisoners
inside their cells. Buzhala asked lots
of questions about conditions in the
prison and the relationship between
the guards and inmates. After he got
back to the newsroom, he wrote down
his impressions, not at all sure he
would write a story.
“I let my bosses know of my
reservations as to whether writing
about the prison would be ethical at
all, since I would be abusing my
internship,” Buzhala said. “However,
there would be no other way I would
have been able to write about the
prison.”
After a long discussion, Buzhala and
his editors decided that he would write
a story. He left out some important
information he would have liked to
include. For example, he did not
report that some guards—not knowing
he was a journalist – told him that
several very dangerous prisoners had
managed to escape, information that
perhaps the public had a right to
know. He didn’t want to endanger their
jobs.
But he did include other quotes from
guards and prisoners, none of whom
knew they were talking to a journalist.
The quotes from guards included their
complaints about a “lack of authority”
with the prisoners, who did not seem
to fear the guards. His story vividly
described prison life and compared it
International Center for Journalists