Principles of journalistic ethics in the publications of Spanish newspapers (on the example of "ABC", "El Pais", "El Mundo", "La Vanguardia")

Kuz'mich Stanislav Valer'evich Postgraduate, Department of Journalism and Literature, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Voronezh State University" 127018, Russia, Moskovskaya oblast', g. Moscow, ul. 3-I proezd mar'inoi roshchi, dom 40, stroenie 1, korpus 11 ya.air2@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The relevance of the research topic is due to the fact that in modern conditions of information wars, fabricated news and low-quality content, the issue of compliance by newspaper editors with the principles of journalistic ethics is very acute. These principles in the scientific literature usually include:

1.                 The right of citizens to reliable information.

2.                 Objective coverage of events.

3.                 Social responsibility.

4. Professional integrity.

5.                 Public access to information.

6.                 Respect for privacy and dignity.

7.                 Respect for the public interest.

8.                 Respect for universal values and diversity of cultures.

9. The struggle against wars and other ills threatening humanity.

10. Development of a new world information and communication order ^{[20, p. 34]}.

These principles have long been accepted by the international community ^{[19, p. 162]} and are mandatory for professional journalists. However, modern news content is so complex and diverse, so dynamic and unpredictable that editorial offices are increasingly "not responsible" for the published publications.

In the European mass media (hereinafter referred to as the media), negative trends of violation of professional ethics by journalists have been increasing recently ^{[7, p. 165]}. Especially often, journalists neglect the principles of social responsibility, professional honesty, respect for privacy and dignity ^{[16, p. 345]}. Moreover, in the context of information wars and campaigns to support political elections, "the principles of ethics practically fade into the background under the pressure of financial remuneration" ^{[12, p. 97]}. The Spanish press, unfortunately, is no exception. Moreover, modern researchers believe that the level of independence and impartiality of the Spanish SMIv has sharply decreased over the past five years ^{[12, p.98]}.

The problem of journalists' compliance with professional ethics has been studied in sufficient detail in modern scientific literature. In particular, the works of E.R. Zharovsky ^[1], Yu.V. Kazakov ^[2,3], G.V. Lazutin, I.A. Pankeev ^[4], L.S. Makarov, T.E. Novikov ^[5], P.V. Makarova, E.A. Selikhov ^[6] analyzed the ethical choice and professional duty of a journalist in the conditions of modern information flows.

The studies of I.Ya. Novitskaya ^[7], V.V. Panferova ^[8], H.U. Rakhimdzhonov ^[9], Z.O. Serebryakova ^[10], T.I. Steksova ^[11] present a thorough analysis of the problems of teaching the principles of professional ethics to future journalists in European countries. Interesting conclusions are presented in the works of such foreign researchers as O. Arda, Z. Akmeshe ^[12], K.T. Berg ^[13], A. Kumar, S. Sharma ^[14], P.M. Lester ^[15], C. Lambie ^[16], R.L. Moore, M.D. Murray, K.H. Hume ^[17], P. Pleasance ^[18], A. Rozegnal ^[19], C.A. Siraj ^[20], S. Ward ^[21].

Nevertheless, despite the rather extensive historiography of the topic, currently very little attention is paid in the scientific literature to empirical studies devoted to the problem of professional ethics in the journalistic environment. To fill this historiographical gap, a study was conducted based on the materials of the leading Spanish newspapers ABC, El Pais, El Mundo, La Vanguardia.

Materials and methods

The materials of the study were the publications "ABC", "El Pais", "El Mundo", "La Vanguardia", as well as responses to a mini-survey of Spanish-speaking readers. The study was conducted on the Twitter network. The general population was 750 people, of whom a representative sample of 75 respondents was formed. To form a representative sample, a mechanical method was used and every tenth reader was selected. The questionnaire contained questions on ten principles of journalistic ethics according to the following scheme: two questions for each principle.

The research methodology included methods of the general scientific group (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction), as well as a number of special methods: content analysis of scientific literature on the research topic; the method of sociological mini-survey; the method of statistical analysis. These methods made it possible to conduct the empirical part of the study.

All the data obtained during the mini-survey were processed using Neural Designer, a program for advanced, predictive and prescriptive analytics.

The empirical study included three stages: agreement with potential respondents and formulation of mini-questionnaire questions; conducting a survey in a representative sample of respondents; collecting answers and subsequent processing of the results obtained. For clarity of the analysis results, all qualitative data were translated into a quantitative format. Each of the ten principles of professional ethics was evaluated on a 10-point scale according to the following scheme: 1-3 points – low level; 4-6 points – average level; 7-10 points – high level of compliance with the principles of ethics by journalists working with the publications "ABC", "El Pais", "El Mundo", "La Vanguardia". All points were calculated based on the respondents' responses. The study was conducted from February 1 to February 19, 2022.

Results

According to the results of the mini-survey among readers of the nationwide Spanish newspapers "ABC", "El Pais", "El Mundo", "La Vanguardia", the following results were obtained: the highest level of adherence to the principles of journalistic ethics was noted by readers at the editorial office of the newspaper "ABC". At the same time, most readers noted that the newspaper "El Pais" is characterized by a lower level of following journalistic ethics, for "El Mundo" - an average level (Figure 1). The low level of adherence to the principles of journalistic ethics was noted by readers of the newspaper "La Vanguardia", in whose publications there is obscene language and swear words, and the tone of the publications is very aggressive. Unfortunately, it is this presentation of the material that attracts the attention of readers. The majority of respondents noted that "the ABC newspaper is very respected, objective, highly ethical, but insipid compared to La Vanguardia.

Figure 1. Assessment of ethical principles of journalism by readers of the newspapers "ABC", "El Pais", "El Mundo", "La Vanguardia" (compiled by the author)

As can be seen from the data presented in Figure 1, readers noted the lowest level of compliance with the principles of journalistic ethics in the newspaper "La Vanguardia".

Interestingly, with high communication and accessibility, the publication practically does not comply with the principle of "respect for privacy and dignity", while reliability and objectivity are at a low level. The newspaper "El Mundo" has only the "communication" criterion at a high level, the rest of the parameters are at an average level.

At the same time, an obvious problem for the publication is the average level of confidence of readers themselves in the reliability and honesty of publications published in the newspaper. All of these parameters must be improved by carefully checking the published information, internal censorship and editing.

For a more visual presentation of the material, a summary chart was compiled (Figure 2), in which the rating of publications was compiled according to the level of compliance with the principles of journalistic ethics (the average score for all analyzed parameters).

Figure 2. Rating of journalistic ethics of newspapers "ABC", "El Pais", "El Mundo", "La Vanguardia" according to readers' assessment (compiled by the author)

As far as can be judged from the data presented in Figure 2, the greatest compliance with the principles of professional ethics is noted by readers of the ABC newspaper. This publication confirms its high rating.

Next in the reader rating is the newspaper "El Pais", which also demonstrates a high level of commitment to the principles of professional ethics in all respects, except for the principle of "pacifism".

In third place is the newspaper "El Mundo", which is characterized by an average level of compliance with the principles of ethics. In the last place in the ranking is the newspaper "La Vanguardia" despite the fact that it is not inferior in popularity to all other publications.

Conclusions

Based on the results of the study , the following conclusions can be drawn:

1.                 The proposed methodology for assessing the level of journalistic ethics in Spanish newspapers is quite universal, which makes it possible to study a variety of aspects related to the activities of modern media. The materials presented in the article also allow us to get an idea of the opinion of the readership regarding the quality of materials published in Spanish newspapers.

2.                 As a result of the conducted research, it was revealed that the editorial offices of Spanish newspapers generally adhere to the principles of professional ethics. However, the level of such commitment is different for each publication. The results obtained suggest that for the Spanish reader, compliance with journalistic ethics is not always the most important criterion for the popularity of a newspaper, which is confirmed by comments about ABC, El Pais, El Mundo and La Vanguardia.