A review of the extent to which ethical principles are considered in the process of production of newspapers by print media houses in Kenya

Abstract

The general objective of the study was to find out factors underlying ethical considerations in the production of information and how the print mass media publish the information. This paper examines the extent to which ethical principles are considered in the process of productions of newspapers by Kenyan media houses. The study was guided by Roxborough’s Principle of Ethics theory of 1979, which holds that communication should always be guided by ethical principles which he points out as the principle of social responsibility. Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the target population who are the staff of one media houses. Systematic random sampling was then used to choose respondents from five departments whereby a sample size of 160 respondents were selected. Data was collected by the use of questionnaires where drop and pick method was used. The primary data collected was analyzed with the help of SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences) Program. The data collected was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The study established that editors focus on ethical issues such as unnamed sources; confidentiality; misrepresentation; obscenity, taste and tone in reporting; paying for news articles; plagiarism; discrimination; covering ethnic, religious and sectarian conflict; recording interviews and telephone conversations; privacy; intrusion into grief and shock; sex discrimination; financial journalism, protection of children; victims of sexual crimes; use of pictures and names; innocent relatives and friends; acts of violence; editor’s responsibility, and advertisements. It was recommended that both the media houses and the public in Kenya should be sensitized on the complexities surrounding the concept of ethics in journalism.