DOI: 10.5176/2335-6618_1.1.7
Authors: Tendai Chari
Abstract:
The study of new media technologies has been dominated by technological deterministic theories which accentuate the capacity of technology to shape and transform society while downplaying human agency. The major pitfall of this approach is that it ignores contextual factors that have telling consequences on the manner in which new media technologies are deployed. This article examines perceptions of Zimbabwean journalists of the ethical challenges and dilemmas linked with the use of email, Internet and cellular phones in their
newsgathering activities. The idea is to enrich the body of knowledge on the ethical practices of African journalists in the era of new media technology. The study combines a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to elicit data on ethical challenges and dilemmas faced journalism practitioners in Zimbabwe. Results reveal a dialectical impact of new media technologies on journalism and suggest the salience of the interpretive flexibility model whereby the design and deployment of technology produces different outcomes depending on the social context in which the technology is used. The study concludes that ethical practices of Zimbabwean journalists are circumscribed by a complex web of structural, institutional and socio-economic factors, both internal and external to the environment in which journalism is practiced.
Keywords: Ethical practices, New Communication Technologies, Journalism ethics, Journalism practice
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