Beyond clickbait and commerce

Journalism, ethics and regulation (fourth edition)
Chris Frost
Abingdon, Oxon; Routledge 2016 pp 430
ISBN 978-1-138-79658-4 (pbk)
Since Britain’s inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of its
press following the News International phone hacking scandal, it
has become awkward for journalists in the UK and elsewhere to
discuss what they do and the ethics of doing it in the same breath.
Hearings chaired by Lord Justice Brian Leveson – appointed in
July 2011 – stretched over two years, during which we learned of
the News of the World’s unsavoury treatment of the Dowler and
McCann families and others, and came to question seriously the
right of journalism to keep its status as a Fourth Estate.
So the arrival of a newly revised text on the ethics of practising
journalism and the possibilities for its regulation is more than
welcome, and has great potential to clear the air.
Perhaps understandably, author Chris Frost reflects on the Leveson
Inquiry right from the outset of this fourth edition, returning to
the issues in more detail later in the text. Frost is well situated to
speak on the matter: the Professor of Journalism at Liverpool John
Moore University in the UK spent more than twenty years as a
journalist and editor, is a former president of the National Union of
Journalists, and chairs the NUJ’s Ethics Council.
While the future of the regulation of journalism in Britain remains
unclear, debate sparked by revelations from the inquiry has
spread internationally, casting doubt over journalistic practice in
the US, Australia and elsewhere. Hence, in a comprehensive and
entertaining introduction Frost writes: ‘This seemed like the best
time to release a new edition to track what has been happening’
(p. 1).
Here at the very beginning, Frost provides an informative history
of the development of texts on ethics in journalism – a more
recent phenomenon in the UK than in the US – and outlines new
considerations for the ethical journalist brought on by the internet.
Above all, Frost argues ethical practice is everyone’s concern,
emphasising that:
For too long, as shown clearly at the Leveson Inquiry, many
journalists in the UK have tended to shrug their shoulders and
assume morals are for someone else and then wonder why there
are calls for legislation on such issues as payments to witnesses
and privacy (pp 3-4).
114 Copyright 2016-2/3. Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics. All rights reserved. Vol 13, No 2/3 2016