Ethical Journalism: The case of the adherence to the Code of Conduct in the Kenyan Media

A Conference Paper by Robi Koki Ochieng, a Lecturer of Journalism in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Presented at the EAMARC 2014 ConferenceJournalists are deemed as custodians of press freedom and it is their onus to feel ethically obliged to give their audiences information that is of public interest. In this study, we examined the extent to which journalists reflect on the code of conduct to make decisions on how to gather information, package information ,publish and distribute stories in media. Investigations were made on which decisions were made when to select appropriate channels are used to break the story; if moral journalistic considerations were made before relying the information to the public and whether media practitioners upheld ethical journalistic actions that minimised harm to other parties. The theoretical and conceptual Framework was derived from Social responsibility theory; Deontological; Teleological; Situation and Utilitarianism theories of media ethics. The Target Population comprised of Media practitioners in in various Kenyan mainstream media houses who were selected using non-probability purposive sampling from three cadres of personnel ,specifically news editors, sub-editors and reporters this was a ffield survey with interview schedules that had predetermined set of questions and responses were voice recorded and transcribed for analysis. Key findings indicated that a section of Kenyan media practitioners appeared apathetic to adhering to the ethical principles contained in the Second Schedule of the Media Act 2007.This study recommended the revision of the Media Council of Kenya‟s Code of Conduct in clearly defining „Public Interest‟ and as well as making distinctions in other areas that journalists find unclear in forums that involve the relevant stakeholders Further to , a revision of media houses‟ in-house editorial policies that appropriately guide journalists in relation to areas that are not covered by the Media Council of Kenya‟s Code of Conduct is in order