Implementation of ethical standards is a Quality Journalism.

Journalists recognize the ethical standards as a mean to monitor the quality of media content; however they admit that these standards are not followed in the media today.

“One of the main laws of journalism…”
Survey conducted by NANSMIT regarding the recognition of ethical standards of journalistic work showed that 99 percent of journalists confirmed the importance of implementation of ethical standards. More than 60 journalists and media experts participated in the survey.

The survey showed that almost all journalists consider the ethical standards of journalistic activity as "one of the main laws of journalism". According to them monitoring the mandatory implementation of ethical standards for media representatives is a very important issue. It is said that there is a need to have an effective mechanism against violators of moral norms. Others have noted that even the content of the popular media has become "yellow" today, and in order to improve the quality of the media content, it is necessary to carry out constant monitoring.

Not all media follow ethical standards
According to journalist Yakub Halimov ethical standards for media and journalists are like a mirror, and journalists see the outcome of their publications through this mirror of ethical standards.

“Moral standards are not observed very much in our media.” Not all our colleagues understand the need to comply with moral and ethical standards,” pointed out Halimov.

Compliance with the ethical standards depends primarily on the journalist himself and is very important to ensure the safety of the journalist, his reputation and prestige in the eyes of society mentions Nematullo Mirsaidov. According to him ethical standards needs to be taught from the beginning while starting journalistic career both at the university, in short-term courses, and in trainings and seminars.

"Standards of journalistic ethics are the requirements of journalism itself. Unfortunately, they are not always followed today. Even if attention is paid to some requirements of journalism, the standards of ethics of Tajik journalists, which are the product of many years of work of journalistic organizations and industry activists, are still not followed by most media, journalists, and sometimes even professional journalists. And compliance with these standards should definitely be one of the main indicators in the process of analyzing and evaluating the activities of journalists and the media."

Mirsaidov says that observations show that only a few professional media outlets follow ethical standards. According to him, most of all, journalistic material lacks transparency, irrefutable facts, and balance of opinions.

"Perhaps the reason is the lack of access to accurate information in our country today. And journalists are forced to use sources that do not have the opportunity to provide accurate and precise information. Or it is the result of non-observance of the country's laws in the field of press, which are primarily not implemented by officials and are often violated," he added.

The need of implementation of various forms and methods of ethical standards in the information society.

Ethical standards of journalistic work was developed and accepted by media representatives, domestic and international experts in 2009 in Tajikistan, and the Media Council of Tajikistan is responsible for its implementation. It is consisted of 17 chapters and covers aspects of journalistic work in accordance to the time of its creation. Observation and experience have shown that the rapid progress of science and technology has also had an impact on journalistic activity, brought new directions or improved and strengthened existing directions. Therefore, there was a need to revise the Ethics Standards of journalistic activity, and finally, in 2021, it was revised by national and foreign experts and new clauses were added to it. Currently, it contains 7 chapters and more than 50 paragraphs.

At the same time, due to the development of new media and social networks, there is an opportunity to review not only the ethical standards of journalistic work, but also media ethics.

According to the head of NANSMIT Nuriddin Karshiboev, there is a need in implementation and development of different forms and methods of media self-regulation in the country's information society in order to improve the quality of journalism and to provide society with clear, alternative and balanced information.

Rukhshona Hakimova, NANSMIT Monitoring Service