The great ethics debate VI

E-Paper | May 01, 2026

In the final part of a six-part series on ethical journalism, the topic of reporting on survivors of abuse is explored. When is it okay to name a victim, if ever? How to not become judge, jury and executioner - where does the responsibility of the journalist end? Abbas Nasir explains on how to report on heinous crimes and survivors. View part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here.

Reporting on survivors of abuse:

Sahar Habib Ghazi worked as a TV producer and editor in Pakistan from 2005-10 and later launched Hosh Media. The volunteer-based organisation of bloggers and journalists recently put together a crash course on some of the stickiest ethical dilemmas journalists in Pakistan face.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

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omer

Jan 29, 2012 10:43pm

Thanks Hosh media for such an informative session with a veteran journalist. You are right about developing feedback loops and one thing that you did not mention is the lack of investigative journalism and the habit of media to report only on day-to-day issues. Like they do point out that there is energy crisis but they fail to show that it was the inept policy of government in the year 1994 that has caused all this. similarly the sindh university opened for only 40 days in the year 2011 and what to say of breaking news, not even once has the media reported it as a news.

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Saad Mursaleen

Jan 30, 2012 01:11am

Assalam o alikum, I m a student of mass communications and I think it is very helpful and must be followed by journalists but usually to get cheap promotions sometimes news papers even publish images of victim that really creates hurdles and lead to suicide..

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