Al Jazeera
Introduction
Emerged in 1996 Al Jazeera is located in Qatar meaning (“the peninsula,” or “the island”). The firm emerged after the new Emir of Qatar Shaykh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani bought the Arabic TV division of the Broadcasting Corporation News Service (BBC) (Aljazeera, 2012). Under that period, BBC had been in endless efforts towards developing an all Arabic television station by pursuing an acquisition with a state Saudi owned Orbit Radio and Television Service with no success. This was based on the failure of the two organizations to agree on some of the issues attached to the new station’s editorial independence. Qatar monarchy during the same period had created strategies aligning it with the U.S policy in the Persian Gulf region and was aiming at creating a limited course of the political liberalization. It also believed that modernizing modern media was vital towards the anticipated reform efforts. Initially, Emir of Qatar availed Al Jazeera with an initial grant amounting to $ 137 million (Aljazeera, 2012). The outcome allowed the station to retain vast of the BBC’s recently employed Arab correspondents many of them having been prominent Egyptian and Lebanese journalism with training from west.
Before the introduction of Al Jazeera, the Arab audience’s only received news from the state owned media or the various Arab satellite channels which availed both entertainment and news programming. The state authorities censored and still controlled the news on every channel. This is evident based on the fact that even the transnational, the subscription attached Arab satellite channels normally reflects the viewpoints of the governments of the countries under which they were located. Al Jazeera is considered be the novelty in Arab, based on the fact that it was the first 24 hours with all the news aired in Arabic. It also it allowed the commentators and the guests with diverse latitude towards expressing their opinions such as criticizing Arab governments which were not the norm previously in Arab media (Aljazeera, 2012).
Currently, Al Jazeera has been grown to one of the global news coverage organization that broadcast their news not only in Arabic but also on English. The organization has also expanded to other regions including US while ensuring that the respective news coverage embraces the respective values and the set global media standards. Although the company has been able to competitively compete with other global media organizations such as BBC and CNN, there has been criticism on some of the coverage and some of the areas that the organization. The criticism is based on the notion that it has focused on covering some of the global or international news that attracts global attention. The company has been able to dilute such claims by indicating that their news are based on the set code of conduct or ethics set by the organization.
The study seeks offer a detailed analysis on the ethics program and audits where a detailed approach is availed by offering detailed discussion on the common elements of the code of conduct and discussion the ethics audit process. The outcome is availed by reflecting the media industry by using one of the global media organizations, Al Jazeera towards offering a significant tool in relation to the variables of the study. Theoretical approach is presented towards examining some of the variables of the study where each of the respective entity is examined using the set policies and standards governing the ethics concept. This is essential towards offering clear insight on entities that reflects the media industry being respectively examined aspects.
Common elements of code of conduct or code of ethics
There are some key elements attached to the code of ethics or conduct as organizations seek to develop values aimed at governing the organizational performance. These elements largely define the effectiveness of the organization towards developing the set organizational goals. Code of conduct or the codes of ethics are almost similar documents which entail to the written guild lines mainly developed by the company directors or the leaders or the board. It serves as the statement availing the values and the ethical standards for the whole organization (Stanwick, 2009). The set code of conduct or ethics within a given organization mainly communicates on the respective expectations that the company seeks to covey to the stakeholders such as the customers, partners and the communities on the respective principles that drive the company operations. As companies such as Al Jazeera seek to develop effective code of conduct or ethics, there are essential elements that largely define the success of the developed code of ethics or conduct. These elements include:
Statement of Purpose
There are varying notions attached to the varying elements essential in defining effective code of conduct or ethics. A statement of the purpose is significant towards introducing the essence of the code. Varying companies avail the statement of the purpose as the overview on the major values essential to the company. This element is also integrated with a given guidance to the employees in relation how they are expected to act on behalf of the company. This notion is evident based on the fact that one of the codes of ethics availed by Al Jazeera indicates, adhering to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, independence, balance, credibility and diversity through availing no priority to commercial or political over professional consideration (El-Nawawy, 2002). The results indicate the availed analysis that stipulates the fact that the code of conduct normally avails the guidance to the employees based on the expected acts on behalf of the company. Al Jazeera guides its employees towards ensuring that they exercise honesty, courage, fairness, independence, credibility and diversity plus balance. This is also supported by the code developed by the company that stipulates “endeavoring to acquire truth and declare it in our dispatches” hence indicating the company’s effort towards ensuring that the employees act specifically by reflecting the truth on the behalf of the company (Iskandar, 2002).
Ethical Values
Ethical Values aspect is an essential element that defines the validity and effectiveness of the code of ethics or conduct. The failure to the company to have a list on the description of the essential values to the organization hence the need of the organization to incorporate some of the codes such as honesty, integrity, customer’s satisfaction, innovation and environmental friendliness plus being team oriented and open minded. The respective values stipulated are evident Al Jazeera organization based on the code of conduct or ethics that the company has developed. The company integrates the respective values into their code hence offering an effective tool that avails the organization with an essential framework that guides employees toward effective service delivery. Ethical values as elements within the code of ethics or conduct are the fruits with their deficiency rendering the code relatively fruitless (Stanwick, 2009). They define the specific expectations that the organization aims at acquiring from the employees based on the consumers’ expectations, the stakeholders and the community in general. The company avails values such as honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity; they define the employee’s effectiveness. The notion is supported by other values depicting values such as transparency on their values.
Stakeholder accountability
This element is attached to the statement of ethical commitment where the core stakeholders within an organization are defined. The two entities they are; statement of ethical commitment and core stakeholders can be depicted as effective elements within the code of ethics or conduct (Sparks, & Pan, 2010). The notion attached the availed entity reflects the need for companies to clearly explain the ethical standards based on the customer’s relation, communities and supplier partnerships. Such ethical standards are reflected based on honesty in service oriented on the customer based activities that are normally typical in relation to the statement to customer. There is the need, for ethical and fair business dealings which are essential towards commitment to the partners. The company is required to have legal commitment and compliance and participate to the charitable programs within the community. The entity stipulates that, the element seeks to integrate or incorporate the company with the external environment especially the society. Al Jazeera enhances such analogy through ensuring that they recognize the diversity in the human societies based on the respective races, cultural beliefs and values. The aspect is essential towards ensuring that the organization creates an environment where the society is respected by the daily business operations.
Compliance
Compliance is also an essential element towards defining the effectiveness of the developed code of conduct or ethics. The elements avails the respective laws or the regulations which are reference as rules that the business has to adhere on the daily operations. Al Jazeera avail such an element or a component within their code of ethics that acts as a guiding tool to the employees and the entire organization. Such compliance based entities in the element defines the organizations ability to ensure that it operates within the set parameters within a given environment.
There are vast elements available in the code of ethics, the proffered analysis integrates some of the respective elements by reflecting them to one of the global news coverage organization. The company has largely defined their respective elements and incorporated them into the set organizational code as availed in the availed analysis. The respective elements are core entities in defining the effectiveness and efficiency of the developed code of ethics or conduct.
Describing the ethics audit process
The essence of an effective code of ethics or conduct can’t be ignored. This is based on the fact that the current media industry calls for the company to develop strategies aimed at embracing some of the forces and pressure within the industry. The notion is apparent based on the increasing wrangles between the media and the government or respective individual’s especially famous icons. The sensitivity of the media industry based on the damages that the information conveyed can cause require the need to have ethical standards. Based on the marginal benefits attached to effective code of ethics or conduct, it is essential that companies such as Al Jazeera have developed an effective and efficient code of ethics or conduct. The confidentiality, honesty, privacy, conflicts among other trending challenges calls for the need to develop dynamic ethical strategies to equip the company or the organization towards averting some of the damages attached to unethical issues such as legal battles.
The effectiveness of the ethics is achievable through conducting a continuous auditing through the audit process. The outcome is achieved via varying strategies or steps that define the respective aspects that define the effectiveness of the code of ethics based on the company operations reflected by the employees in their daily activities. The audit process outlines essential steps that ensure that the developed code meets the required standards and constantly serves the intended aspects while averting some of the limitations reflected by the media trends and media issues. The preceding analysis avails a description on the ethics audit process while reflecting the selected organization. They are:
Detailed foundation
The ethics audits involve detailed analysis on a comparison between the actual employee’s behaviors and the respective guidance for employee behavior availed in the policies and procedures. Based on this approach, the descriptive and specific ethics related policies and the attached procedures hence making it easy to make the respective comparisons. The step entails conducting a detailed research on the current employee’s behaviors in a given organization such as Al Jazeera with the company’s set policies and procedures. This aids the company towards discovering some of the areas to improve based on the employees performances and behaviors and developing strategies aimed at improving the identified areas.
Developing Metrics
The aspect entails developing strategic approaches aimed at ensuring that the tangible ethics aspects or measures are in place through facilitating such an entity. The recommendations are made towards developing a mechanism where addition of the ethics goals to the organizational annual performance reviews is made with compensation to the ethical behavior also a possible solution. In this regard, organizations such as Al Jazeera ensures that they develops tangible ethics metrics which although they may not be the same as the financial or the operational audits they are smoothly running hence enabling the organization carryout ethical operations during its daily activities. This enables the organization creates a continuous ethical based auditing process where the values and the respective aspects within the environment is enhanced.
Creating a cross-functional team
Under this step, the ethics audit process calls for the organization to indulge other professionals such as HR professional plus other people within the organization unit that are being audited. The team can also incorporate individuals such as the ethics and compliance managers plus in other cases the internal auditor and the legal managers. Developing an ethics team that incorporates the crucial individuals within the organization equips the ethics audit process with diverse views that are essential towards ensuring that the organization achieves the set objectives. Al Jazeera Code of ethics depicts the availability of diversity in their operation as the company seeks to respect cultures and values within their operations. This is essential towards ensuring the organization sets its boundaries or the parameters in relation to their operations.
Audit Efficiently
After executing the respective stages described in the availed analysis above, the organization is required to carry out the process efficiently. This is done without disrupting the normal operations on the business especially in areas subjected to review. The ethic audit process normally disrupts the normal operations of the business. This depicts the essence of planning and ensuring that before the audit is executed, there is need to research on whether there other internal auditors or even the financial teams are also conducting respective reviews on the same area. If the organization can’t allocate one team another review area, the two teams are required to work together towards ensuring that little or no disruptions are made in the respective. After scheduling on the audit, there is need to create a plan that avails some of the respective employees to be interviewed with the information calling for reviews and respective processes that call for observation. This is essential based on the fact that it defines the validity and reliability of the ethics audit process. The notion attached to the respective stage proffers the need to ensure that the process is reliable.
Looking for other issues
The notion entails the need to monitor some of the improvement opportunities and sharing the outcome with the respective individuals within the organization. These acts as the evaluation stage with the respective outcomes are examined with the previous environment. Organizations such Al Jazeera after executing the effective ethic audit process, they examine the respective performance in relation to the previous environment. They are essential towards ensuring that the organization monitor evaluates and maintains an ethical environment.
Responding consistently and communicate
The approach attached to this stage entails the need to ensure discipline ethics violations are effectively attached to the policies and the procedures while ensuring the code of conduct is used to examine the respective outcomes. This can also be facilitated by ensuring that some of the lessons acquired in relation to the ethics are effectively communicated during training and the normal organizational training. The notion attached to the respective environment ensures that the organization operates in an ethical environment.
Based on the availed analysis, it is evident that the essence of the code of ethics or conduct defines effectiveness in organizational operations while also communicating the organizational objectives with the stakeholders. Al Jazeera as other media global organizations operates within a competitive environment, there are diverse entities attached to the need to adopt a code of ethics towards pursuing the vision and the mission set within the organization. Effective code of conduct or ethics should be attached to the vision or the mission of the organization. The preceding analysis avails an effective code of ethics or conduct as developed by Al Jazeera:
- Adhering to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, independence, balance, credibility and diversity towards prioritizing not on the commercial or political but over professional consideration
- Endeavoring to get the truth and declare it in our dispatches, programs and news bulletins
- Treating the audiences with respects and addressing every issue with due attention to offer clear and accurate pictures
- Presenting diverse points of view onions without partiality and bias
The availed are some of the aspects that define an effective code of ethics or conduct that organizations such as Al Jazeera can adopt. One of the most essential entities in the stipulated analogy depicts the need to ensure that the global media organizations achieve a competitive advantage. This is through adopting an effective code of conduct or ethics that reflects the organization’s mission and vision while also ensuring the organization can embrace some of the dynamic trends within the industry.
References
- El-Nawawy, M., & Iskandar, A. (2002, March). Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East. USA: Westview Press.
- Weiss, J.W., 2006. Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach, 4th Edition, Thomson-South Western, Ohio.
- Sparks, J.R., & Pan, Y. 2010. Ethical judgments in business ethics research: Definition, and research agenda. Journal of Business Ethics 91 (3), 405-418.
- Stanwick, P.A. Stanwick, S.D., 2009. Understanding Business Ethics, 1st Edition, Pearson,
- Dimitrova, D.V., Kaid, L.L., Williams. A.P., & Trammell, K.D. (2005). War on the Web:The Immediate News Framing of Gulf War II. Press/Politics, 10(1), 22-44.
- Aljazeera. About AlJazeera.(2012). www.Aljazeera.net.
