Good piece from Steve Hatchett on state of UK media, as expoosed by Leveson and as familiar to most journalists forever. As a v young, enraged student I collared friends of my mother who, like her, worked for the Express and other Fleet Street tabloids about media responsibility. The answers usually included ‘it’s only a job’; ‘if it didn’t sell papers we wouldn’t do it;’ to ‘ it’s only entertainment’ – all pretty weaselly ways of off-loading moral ownership. Same people often fancied the ‘seeker-after-truth’ image of journalism – another interesting example of ethical identities at work.
Currently working on a paper on professional identities and their impact on ethics – some strong case material here.
Johanna Fawkes Research 