BROADCAST Ethics Committee of the Media Council of Mongolia held its regular meeting of the second quarter of 2021 on June 21, 2021, and resolved one complaint.

It’s concluded that broadcasting seven televisions violated the code of ethics

The complaint was related to the “Medeelliin ursgal”[1] the program, which aired on seven televisions on May 6, 2021. “Medeelliin ursgal”, aired live at Eagle, C1, ETV, NTV, SBN, UBS, and Mongol HD televisions on May 6, 2021, covered having funerals under strict safety rules for people who died due to COVID-19 infection. Citizen M.T filed a complaint related to the above-mentioned reportage and considered the following acts violated journalistic code of ethics: The acts of taking images of a deceased person due to an infectious disease without his/her family or children’s consent and disseminating it on social media was disrespectful to the deceased person and his/her family. They urged the family members, who lost their loved ones and were in mourning, to give an interview. Thus, even though the family members didn't give permission to interview or film a video, they followed secretly and got the footage. Such acts were disrespectful and unethical for the family who were parting with their loved ones and disrupting their funeral ceremony.
 
The Committee considered the reportage in accordance with the journalistic Code of Ethics and concluded that all seven televisions that broadcasted it made an ethical error. Although some TVs commented that the reportage was not content they prepared, these seven TVs should be legally responsible for the contents of news and other programs they broadcast since they obtain special licenses to broadcast nationwide. The nature of media self-regulation requires that media outlets monitor and be responsible for not only their journalists' works but also the contents they broadcast to the public whether programs and contents are prepared by following the journalistic code of ethics.
 
Even though the families of the deceased displayed in the reportage refuse to give consent to record or preparing news, the reportage was prepared and broadcasted to the public. Thus, the reportage broadcasted family members and close people of those who had accidents or disasters without their consent. Then, it violated the Code of Ethics, Article 6.8 "If not directly related with the main topic, family members and dependents of victims of crimes or accidents, or dependents of persons accused in the crime, shall not be identified without particular consent.” Also, Code of Ethics, Article 7 “Journalism respects people’s sorrow, suffering and emotional traumas” was violated by doing footage about family members of the deceased while preparing the reportage and had video recording and ask to give an interview while following them. 

[1]It means “Information Flow”

The MCM delivered its Ethics Committees’ decisions to related editorial rooms and complaints.