Professor Guy Berger, from the School of media and journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa last month won the Nat Nakasa Award for ethics in journalism. At the time of apartheid in his country, Professor Berger spent three years in prison and then five years in exile – so his personal biography underlined the coherence of his message to the Caux – Initiatives of Change session on ‘Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy’ that started yesterday.

Berger, speaking this morning at a meeting taken by the International Communications Forum (ICF) said, ‘Too easily journalists and owners go the route of pandering to the market – giving the viewers and the readers what they want.’ But shouldn’t the media instead be leading and developing the market, he asked? Journalists can be tempted, he went on, ‘to hide behind the “ethics” of getting the story at any cost,’ including lies and stealing, or intruding on grieving families. Their objectivity’ may lack any social responsibility. ‘Media integrity is not a legal requirement,’ he said, and free speech covers ‘bad’ as well as ‘good’ views.
The former practising journalist quoted with approval Noam Chomsky: ‘If you’re in favour of free speech, then you’re in favour of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise. Otherwise you’re not in favour of free speech.’ But in the same way that auditors could and should promote integrity, the media should likewise – ‘but for the media to proclaim on the health of society, its own health needs to be in order’.
The 4th Caux Lecture of the 2006 Caux conference season, will be given by Dr. J.J Irani, Director of the board of the giant Indian multi-national TATA, on Wednesday 2nd August. He will speak on ‘The Importance of Trust and Integrity in Corporate Leadership in an Emerging Market’.
The conference programme for ‘Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy’ says, ‘Every profession and enterprise needs trust – trust between its partners and from the public. For some, the falling level of trust has become a threat to the future. New regulations or laws may be necessary, but trust is built best when we show integrity and vision for what we contribute to society. Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy offers a space in which members of a business, farming, media and accounting professions can meet among themselves, dialogue with others, and find new ways forward.’
The conference has three components running in parallel: The Farmers’ Dialogue, the International Communications Forum and a forum on ‘Ethical Leadership in Business’. At last night’s opening, a Canadian Economist, a Belgian one-man information technology entrepreneur and a French senior manager all spoke. http://www.iofc.org/en/programmes/fd/

Andrew Stallybrass

Conference Report