In
Poland associations of journalists and some broadcasters have their own ethical
codes (e.g. The journalist ethic code
of the Polish Association of Journalists or The
principles of journalist ethics of TVP SA). However, Media Ethic Charter is the most important document of press
deontology in Poland. In 1995 it was accepted by all journalist associations,
but also by some broadcasters³ organisations (e.g. Union of the Press
Publishers /Unia Wydawcow Prasy/ and Polish Public Radio and Television). The
Charter consists only of 7 principles such as:
·
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE TRUTH -
which means that journalists, editors, producers and broadcasters do their best
so that the conveyed information reflects the truth; they report the facts in
their proper context, and in case of publicising a false information they
immediately correct it.
·
THE PRINCIPLE OF OBJECTIVITY
- which means that the author depicts the reality independently of his/her own
views, reports reliably different points of view.
·
THE PRINCIPLE OF DIVISION OF
THE INFORMATION AND THE COMMENTARY - which means that the message is constructed
in such a way that it is possible for the recipient to distinguish facts from
views and opinions.
·
THE PRINCIPLE OF HONESTY -
which means acting in accordance with one's own conscience and the good of the
recipient, not submitting oneself to the influence, incorruptibility, refusing
to act against one's beliefs.
·
THE PRINCIPLE OF RESPECT AND
TOLERANCE - i.e. respect for human dignity, rights, personal property, and
especially for privacy and good name.
·
THE PRINCIPLE OF SUPERIORITY
OF RECIPIENT'S GOOD - which means that the basic rights of readers, viewers and
listeners are superior to the interests of the editorial staff, journalists,
editors, producers and broadcasters.
·
THE PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM AND
RESPONSIBILITY - which means that freedom of the media imposes on journalists,
editors, producers and broadcasters responsibility for the form and content of
the message and the consequences which result from it.
International
comparative studies show that orders and bans represented in the Media
Ethic Charter are of limited character as compared to those which are very
often included in various European codes. The Charter,
for example, does not include such crucial principles as the prohibition to
discriminate others as regards race, nationality, religion, sex, background,
etc.; the prohibition to use one³s profession to gain personal profits; the
prohibition of any kind of plagiarism; restricting oneself to honest methods of
gathering information; protecting information sources; separating advertisements
from editorial/journalist texts; the principle of alleged innocence; or the
principle of trade solidarity (integration).
In
the middle of the 1990s, there was a project of the Press Law whose aim was to
establish the Media Council, which would have similar authority as the National
Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) (i.e. it would control the press market in Poland). However,
the journalists and editors were against this project, and decided to establish
the Polish Media Conference at the beginning of 1995, which was joined by all
important journalists³ and editors³ associations. Soon the Media Ethic
Council (Rada Etyki Mediow) was established, which was authorised to make
announcements and statements. It took 18 months to choose the members of the
Council, because it had been settled that they should be chosen anonymously. The
first members of the Council included: Magdalena Bajer, Tomasz Goban-Klas,
Boleslaw Michalek, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Michal Radgowski, Jerzy Turowicz and
Piotr Wojciechowski. In the second term of office (since October 1997) the
Council included: Magdalena Bajer, Jozefa Hennelowa, Tomasz Goban-Klas, Piotr
Wojciechowski, Michal Boguslawski, Cezary Gawrys, Jacek Kurczewski, Tadeusz
Kononiuk, Maciej Lukasiewicz.