Ethics of media work in Algerian sports journalism

Abstract

Media work is not a haphazard activity; it is governed by several principles related to the intellectual vision of media itself, its objectives, and the ideology of the media system in any given society. For a journalist to effectively select and even personalize a particular type of topic or writing, they must internalize these principles and be fully aware of what is expected of them within the editorial line of their media outlet, which is itself linked to the media system as a whole. Failure to adhere to these principles can lead to chaos in the selection and publication process, resulting in negative consequences for the recipients of media messages. Among these principles are the ethics of media work. Just as every professional activity has ethics that regulate it and prevent it from deviating from the value system of society, it is all the more imperative that media activity adhere to these ethics, because the consequences of its activity affect a wide range of people, and the potential harm extends beyond the material to encompass ethical aspects and can have long-lasting repercussions. This study aims to determine the extent to which Algerian sports journalism adheres to journalistic ethics through journalistic writings, using content analysis techniques, and on a sample of three sports newspapers that are initially, according to data from the Ministry of Communication, the most widely circulated among sports newspapers, namely “El Heddaf”, “Competition” and “El Khabar Erriadi”, with a focus on certain agreed-upon ethics, since the study of all ethics goes beyond the study of writings to practices that precede and sometimes follow the editing process.