HRH Princess Basmah, 9 May 2014 – Media ethics and government

HRH Princess Basmah, 9 May 2014 – Media ethics and government

‏13 مايو، 2014‏

1. I think a discussion about ethics in the media is always a good thing, and of course this particular seminar comes at a time when there is a high profile court case examining how a big part of the British media has been conducting itself.

2. Some individuals are in court defending themselves against charges that they spied on people to sell newspapers. With the hacking scandal, we have all the elements of a great story: celebrities, affairs, trickery, deceit – and facing the music.

3. Perhaps we are all here today because we realise that it is not just the defendants in the hacking case who should face some music. The point is that we imagine we hold ourselves to a greater standard of media ethics than we actually do.

4. So I don’t see that a discussion on ethics in the media can take place without noting that media ethics are at a low ebb, and that credibility is something that needs to be built back up.

5. But how can this be done? What would the criteria be?

6. To me, in the media as in many other parts of life, people need certain things: security, freedom, equality and

education

. This is the basis of my Fourth Way Law, a global constitution which I have designed.

7. It is a mechanism which identifies, categorises and distributes basic human rights in as simple a way as possible, one which dovetails with existing legal systems and allows for local cultural tastes to prevail.

8. Security, freedom, equality and education are what I view as the fundamental categories of basic human rights which people need to live their lives in peace.

9. The media has an important role to play in entrenching these rights, making people aware of them, and protecting them from abuse from governments and other powers.

10. In so many places in the world, however, these things are lacking, and I think that what needs to happen is a realisation within the global media industry that more can be achieved with the tools available, and the determination to do so.

11. It is not an altruistic aim so much as one that is linked to survival. In recent years, especially in my region, people have been getting good at rising up and fighting and overthrowing the powers that oppress them.

12. While newspapers are interested in who slept with who, the gap between rich and poor increases, poverty increases, violence and conflict increases, the gender gap increases, food waste increases, and people are alienated further from the processes of government which are supposed to serve them.

13. The media must serve all, particularly the ordinary citizen who does not have the resources of capacity to fight for himself.

14. Now, it might sound odd to hear a member of the Saudi Royal Family say these things, and my region and the West are at different stages of the evolutionary scale for sure – but these principles remain true for everyone.

15. My region is undergoing some very important changes, and I realise just how important ethics in the media are. They are not just something that is nice to have. You need them immediately, even in the throes of revolution.

16. They are crucial to a nation’s stability in many different ways, and in my Fourth Way Law I set out the case for human right and stability, which is underpinned by the media.

17. It is a huge responsibility, and I think that the hacking case in court right now is a demonstration that so much more can be done – if only because this case shows we are not doing it.

Thank you.