Media Ethics - Nicholas Jones - Blog and Archive Website.

Details: Category: General; Published: 14 May 2009

Whatever reservations there might be over the way the leaked information was obtained, the publication of hitherto secret details about the endemic abuse of MPs’ expenses was without doubt in the public interest.

Details: Category: General; Published: 11 May 2009

Whether it was cash for questions or dodgy donations for peerages, politicians have all too regularly shown an almost suicidal disregard for the proper management of their financial affairs. What has proved so damaging about the latest scandal over claims for second homes, furnishings and food was the systematic way in which so many MPs were prepared to abuse the taxpayers’ generosity.

Details: Category: General; Published: 30 March 2009

Journalism at Your Service?

International Journalism Festival, Perugia, 1.4.2009

Two questions should trouble the journalists of Britain, Europe and America as we work through what will be a terrible year for the world economy. Why, during the boom years, didn’t we do more to investigate what was really happening in the financial markets? And are journalists in danger now of being deflected from the task of holding our governments, banks and institutions to account? Journalists can play their part in serving the public interest by investigating what went wrong, by scrutinising what the politicians are saying, and by helping to ensure that rigorous controls are introduced to prevent the damaging financial speculation of the past.

Details: Category: General; Published: 01 March 2009

Political journalism provides an ideal illustration of the contradictions and extremes of the British news media. No other group of correspondents are so open to manipulation yet so determined to prove their independence by influencing and, whenever possible, by driving forward the news agenda. Opinionated commentaries and a great tradition of campaigning journalism are a hallmark of the British press. When reinforced by the constant push for exclusive agenda-setting setting stories, the impact can be pretty potent.

Details: Category: General; Published: 28 February 2009

Max Clifford has been trying his hardest to re-invent himself by becoming a father figure for the terminally-ill reality television star Jade Goody but while he might be hoping to salve his conscience he cannot undo all the damage he has inflicted over the years by helping to legitimise cheque-book journalism.

Not only has he stoked up the public's appetite for the seedier side of paid-for journalism - through what he calls "a game...my way of life" - but he has also encouraged and sustained the often pitiful ingenuity of those who seek to exploit it.

By advising his clients on how to make "a financial killing" from newspapers and television for stories such as kiss-and-tells, Clifford has inspired and empowered countless other individuals who have the imagination and cunning to take advantage of the un-controlled competitive forces which are currently at play within the news and entertainment media.