The Idealist, on the other hand, postulates that (i) a news event is basically what happens in the minds of the audience member, (ii) a news story is a device which triggers a perception or image in the audience member’s mind and (iii) there is no ‘news’ except that which is perceived by the audience member. For the idealist, news is not news until it is reported, that is, percei­ved by an audience member through a report.

Thus a realist is more object and event-minded than an idealist who tends to be a subjectivist when it comes to objective reporting. His own feelings, reactions, conclusions, judgments as well as those of the audience members find way into his reports. An idealist is more dedicated to involvement and advocacy.

He is more prone to have an Interest in audience analysis than in content analysis. He is more psychologically oriented than is the realistic journalist.

Ethics is usually individual or personal even when it relates to obligations and duties to others. We do right or wrong by ourselves in that part of our life lived individually or socially or in that part where we are reacting and responding to other persons. Thus, there are two sides to individual and social morality implicit in the very concept of ethics.

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The journalist as one is not simply writing for the education of others. He is also writing for self-expression and he puts himself and his ideas into his journalism. What he communicates is in a very real way what he himself is.

The journalist who has concern for ethics does care about good or right action. Such a concern indicates an attitude which embraces both freedom and personal responsibility. It leads to the discovery of norms for action or as guiding principles or specific directives in propagating the kind of life which he thinks socially meaningful and satisfying.

However, what characterises most journalists today is, according to Merrill, a lack of commitment and consistency. Before any journalist chooses any particular ethics, he has certain social considerations in his mind. Ethics is a branch of philosophy that helps journalists determine what is right in journalism.

It is very much a normative science of conduct-primarily self-determined or voluntary. Ethics is like self-legislation and self-enforcement.

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Like their audience, journalists bring their own set of preconceptions in their writings and reporting-preconceptions produced by their environment and their position in the community. Their business relations also play some part. Generally, the biases are both conscious and unconscious.

The remedy lies through a right comprehension of the problem discussed and through a combination of conscious effort, changed perspective and new institutional arrange­ment with a view to eliminate systematic distortion.