Media Ethics Issues Dominate Week’s News
Aug 4th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsChinese officials allow some holes in firewall blocking Internet access for Olympic journalists; FCC slams Comcast for secretly throttling Internet traffic; presidential candidates’ supporters claim media bias; and Los Angeles considers tightening the reins on paparazzi
VARIOUS DATELINES
Several angles on media ethics were featured in world press reports last week. Among the stories:
- Chinese authorities, facing a backlash from Olympic officials, journalists, and the West, partially dismantled the electronic firewalls blocking politically sensitive sites from visitors at the main press center for the Games. But the New York Times reports that certain topics, such as the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong, remain off-limits. The Times’s Andrew Jacobs, reporting from Beijing, writes: “The loosening of restrictions, however limited, came after senior I.O.C. officials spoke with China’s Olympic organizers on Thursday and urged them to reconsider their decision to ban some politically provocative sites. Critics said even a partial ban violated the host country’s pledge to provide uncensored Internet access to journalists, a promise that helped Beijing win the right to hold the Games.” A Chinese official interviewed by the Times refused to confirm whether there had been an actual change in policy, saying only that the nation is “fulfilling a promise to provide good working conditions for reporters covering the Olympic games.”
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week slammed cable titan Comcast for secretly throttling certain bandwidth-hogging activities among users, as well as for being evasive when confronted with the claims. The Washington Post reports that the FCC did not fine Comcast but ordered it to halt all “discriminatory network-management practices” by the end of the year. The issue has an ethical as well as legal angle because it is at the core of the argument over “net neutrality” — whether all Internet traffic should be treated equally and moved at the same speed. Proponents of net neutrality argue that all traffic should be moved at the same speed because allowing differential treatment would eventually result in deep-pocketed firms and individuals consistently receiving better service. Proponents also claim Internet service providers violate customers’ privacy by inspecting the type of transmission in order to determine whether it should be put on the slow track. Opponents of net neutrality say it is okay to throttle certain bandwidth-consuming applications, such as file sharing, to keep a small number of bandwidth hogs from slowing down everyone’s Internet speed.
- Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his aides last week criticized the media for what they characterize as lopsided coverage and an infatuation with his Democratic rival, Barack Obama. The Wall Street Journal reports that media executives defend their coverage, saying such attention is cyclical. “It used to be the stories were ‘everyone was in love with McCain — he’s on his bus, he schmoozes the reporters, they all give him a break,’” Paul Friedman, senior vice president for news coverage at CBS, told the Journal. “That’s the irony. These guys are now crying foul, and they’ve had the advantage of terrific relationships with the press.” The Journal report noted that Obama’s supporters are echoing a similar theme in criticism of the Fox network, claiming it is biased against Sen. Obama.
- A Los Angeles municipal task force is considering new laws to rein in paparazzi. Some, including a variety of celebrities who testified in favor of such restrictions, say the unruly packs of photographers pose a safety hazard, reports the International Herald Tribune. Opponents argue that selective restrictions on paparazzi threaten press freedoms and that the proposed “zone of privacy” would give preferential treatment to celebrities, as ordinary citizens would have no such allowance.
Sources: New York Times, Aug. 1 — Washington Post, Aug. 1 — International Herald Tribune, Aug. 1 — Wall Street Journal, July 23.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 9 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 14 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 24 — Related Newsline story, June 11, 2007 — Related Newsline story, May 21, 2007.
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