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The very essence of a journalist, is to be able to be impartial, object and professional at all times. This is something that I have taken very seriously throughout my degree, and something I have considered throughout the process of this project. Due to the incredibly emotive, and sensitive nature of my chosen topic, male suicide, ethical codes are definitely something which comes into play when making my documentary. BBC Radio 4, is my chosen target broadcaster, so therefore I will be following the BBC Editorial Guidelines for this project.
Section 6 of the BBC's Editorial Guidelines - Fairness, Contribution, and Consent.
"We should treat our contributors honestly and with respect. Our commitment to fairness is normally achieved by ensuring that people provide 'informed consent' before they participate. 'Informed consent' means that contributors should be in possession of the knowledge that is necessary for a reasoned decision to take part in our content."
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In order to keep to this particular ethical guideline, I have ensured that I clearly explained to each of my interviewees the purpose of the documentary, where it would be published, and what I was intending to do with the social media presence of the project, such as create a Facebook page, which is followed by some of my interviewee's who are keeping up to date with my progress through this medium. It was very important to me that all my interviewee's felt comfortable with the project and their contribution towards it, so they were encouraged by myself to ask any questions that they had regarding the project. I have collected proof of contribution emails from each of my interviewees, establishing their consent to be included within the project and documentary.
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Section 7 of the BBC's Editorial Guidelines - Privacy
"The BBC respects privacy and does not infringe it without good reason, wherever in the world it is operating. The Human Rights Act 1998 gives protection to the privacy of individuals, and private information about them, but balances that with a broadcaster's right to freedom of expression.We must justify intrusions into an individual's private life without consent by demonstrating that the intrusion is outweighed by the public interest."
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I feel that Section 7 of the BBC's Editorial Guidelines is relevant, in particular to my interviews with Julie Newton, Stuart Falconer and Caroline Chandler, both within my radio documentary and within the 'Left Behind' section of my website. Section 7 states that when reporting topics involving death, disaster, and grieving relatives, that you should not; put them under pressure to provide interviews, stay on their property if asked to leave​, or harass them. I received full consent from all of my interviewees to conduct the interview on private property, in addition to publishing the recorded interviews. I feel the above is relevant to my interviews with Julie, Stuart, and Caroline as I was asking them to describe a traumatic event in their lives, which involved death and grief, due to the nature of suicide. It was highly important both to be compassionate, and also to avoid any unjustified infringements of privacy, and this was acknowledged throughout. In order to ensure that infringements of privacy were avoided, Julie, Caroline and Stuart were sent the questions prior to the interview, to establish that they felt comfortable to answer all the questions and share their stories. Additionally, when interviewing a grieving family member, a certain level of respect and care should be taken when conducting an interview, and I believe I achieved this by creating a very relaxed atmosphere during the interview. I frequently stopped my camera to give my interviewees a few private moments during highly emotional points throughout, and allowed as much time as they needed to answer a question, or to skip a question if they preferred to do so.
Section 18 of the BBC's Editorial Guidelines - The Law - Copyright
"Intellectual property rights include:copyright,moral rights,performers' rights,trade marks,patents and designs,rights to prevent "passing off" and breach of confidence."
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I will endeavour to take my own images where I am able too, however when this is not possible, I have made sure that all the pictures used are either copyright free, in the public domain under the creative commons licence, and any attributions will be made clear within the page. Details relating to the use of creative commons pictures, and copyright free music will be submitted with my assignment along with other paperwork such as interview release forms and so on.
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