Frits van Exter, former editor of the Netherlands publication Trouw questioned whether newspapers’ “old values are an asset or a burden”. 

“Ethics are not something written in a book. Ethics means, above all, the readiness to question your choices openly. The most that I can give you are questions to ask yourself,” said Exter.

“Interactivity can mean you run an open sewer system. The World Wide Web can mean you are hosting a clash of civilizations, with the beheading of a hostage (or some child porn) just one click away.  Is it about grabbing as much traffic as you can and later finding some boundaries? Is this the price we have to pay to survive?”

“You need to ask why you are online anyway,” Exter said.  “Many people do not even ask themselves that question. Do you want to be the editor of a nice chic paper or be a producer of a yellow-pad publication? What makes you different, what is your mission, which values are most important to you, and how far do you stretch?”

Van Exter offered some tools to maintain ethics online - registration,  moderation, communication and delegation. “Registration allows you to control how anynomous your audience is.You can decide how high the barrier must be,” he said.

With moderation, you can decide what you accept on your sites. “This is of course a matter of resources; some will call you a censor, others will feel more at home at your site.”

He argued that you should make clear what your standards were and stick to them; be as transparent as possible about your decisions and put them up for debate.

Trouw is selective in opening forums on some topics and moderates forums passively on its community sites after publication. “Some posts are delayed for several hours, but that is the choice we make.”

“You can have debates about Islam, you can have debates about sex. You can even have debates about sex in Islam; you have to decide on your boundaries and stick to them. It’s a choice some people appreciate and some will not,” said Exter.

Also, you can delegate. Your audience can help you to keep up the standards. They can “police”  your site and help you to set up a reputation system

Van Exeter said that old values can be a burden, if you don’t understand the way people like to use new media. You need to use the values with the understanding that new media offers unique possibilities to engage audiences.

“Boundaries of journalism can be stretched,” said van Exeter, “ but only as far as you want them to be.”

By Judy Lelliott, Wits University Journalism