محمدحاجی اسماعیلی

What is released as media news is essentially the result of media owners' choices and decisions. This selection, or gatekeeping, happens in the process of transforming the event into news, and it is the editors and chief editors of the media who decide to keep the news hidden or published and how it will be published. In this article, some ethical principles and criteria of this selection and choice of religious texts (the Koran and hadith) were aimed to be exemplified and compiled to ensure that the news is in accordance with the correct ethical standards on the part of those in charge. This essay attempts to specifically address the question of who and with what moral characteristics can be the gatekeeper and the decision maker to decide whether or not to publish the news in the Islamic media, and after this responsibility what ethical principles they should observe.

Today, news has become an essential need of everyone. The information reported through the media has its effect on people’s thoughts, feelings and lifestyle. Journalists who from the main body of the media strive to choose from the thousands small incidents and big events that happen the world over every day. News broadcasts reported through the media is primarily selected by journalists. Since selection of every item requires a certain criterion, the researcher has attempted to extract moral criteria from religious texts and answer these fundamental questions: according to Islam, who can be responsible for journalism in Islamic society? What behavioral characteristics should he have? And what professional moral journalistic criteria should he apply while taking this responsibility? Explaining seven principles of the morals of journalism, this paper responds to some of the questions relating to the morals of journalism.