Journalism Ethics in Malaysia

Journalism ethics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the actions that are morally permissible and those that are not. In Journalism, ethics is important because it controls what gets published. Media ethics help media workers in deciding what is right, and how to choose the best from several alternatives. “Media ethics” constitutes a normative science of conduct and must therefore apply voluntarily, whereas abiding by the “media law” is compulsory. This book is based on a survey study about journalism ethics in Malaysia – developing country located in South-East Asia. The main objective of this book is to determine the relationship between journalists’ ethical knowledge, attitude and their possible ethical behavior. The role of experience, education and gender in ethical decision making is also discussed. The priority between media law and journalism ethics is another part of this book. In this regard, two theoretical models of thoughts (Separate model and Correspondence model) are reviewed to reveal the Malaysian journalists’ attitude towards the Social Responsibility theory.