Who Is a Development Journalist? Perspectives on Media Ethics and Professionalism in Post-Colonial Societies

Abstract

Journalistic practice and professionalism across the globe are characterized by certain universals as well as unique particularities. In most post-colonial societies, the ethical philosophies and professional ethos of journalists reflect the tension between the commitment to integrity and social responsibility, shared by journalists worldwide, and the contextual interpretation and application of these principles. This article examines the ethics and ethos of development journalism as a philosophically, culturally, and historically evolving professional ideology. It surveys the ethical landscape of development journalists and shows how development journalists balance the dialectic of a universalist ethical philosophy and a relativistic professional ethos.