There is not enough conversation in mainstream media about the ethical role of journalism in the 21st century. Debates about media revolve primarily around commercial viability and interests, and focus on the impact that technology is having on media as a business.
Nearly two years ago, the UK Guardian exposed the systematic disregard for journalistic moral practices and for personal privacy and grief in the now defunct News of the World newspaper. The repercussions reverberated through all western nations, especially those where Murdoch media controls the majority of the media market. But the story has long since moved silently from the news agenda into academia.
Yet corrupt or plain lazy journalism practices continue to be uncovered, with the BBC now in the spotlight. On 2 November, it falsely implicated senior Tory politician, Alistair McAlpine, of raping a young boy during his years in office. The ensuing media frenzy resulted in the resignation of the BBC's news chief, George Entwistle.
In an op-ed in Melbourne's The Age, London mayor Boris Johnson wrote that 'the people at the BBC show no real sign of understanding what they have done wrong, let alone making amends'. He details the journalists' tendency to worry only about their own jobs while failing to notice the declining quality of their reporting.
Johnson is quick to show his disgust at the BBC's lack of empathy for the man they wrongly accused. 'To call someone a paedophile is to consign them to the lowest circle of hell.' He attributes this gross media oversight to 'a story that was too good to check'.
In the 24/7 world in which we live, reputations and lives can be ruined in the space of a day. Traditional news outlets scramble to beat online media, sacrificing quality, accuracy and empathy in their quest to be first and to gain (and retain) the largest audience.
Who is to blame? Are the current journalists simply self-absorbed, money-obsessed scandal-seekers, or have they been forced to adapt to a culture of sales, where every story is only as good as the profits it brings in?
Ex-Labor minister Lindsay Tanner says the mass media 'is turning into a carnival sideshow', distorting facts to 'maximise the impact of the story'. Truth, accuracy and fairness play little part other than window dressing, masking the reality of today's