The Pressrat [Press Council], a self-governed organisation composed of journalists’ associations, press companies, and trade associations released the most prominent code of media ethics. Almost all print media in Austria subject themselves to the council’s code of ethics (with the notable exception of the two largest daily newspapers Kronenzeitung and Heute). Founded in 1961, the council was suspended between 2002 and 2010 due to unsettled internal disputes. Since its restoration, the Press Council examines complaints in three senates. In 2019, some 297 complaints were filed, of which 37 were considered to breach the code. Most cases concerned the boulevard daily newspapers Österreich (14 cases) and Kronenzeitung (9 cases) (Österreichischer Presserat, 2019). According to the council’s rules, such violations of the code must be published in the respective media. 93 per cent of all journalists confirmed in 2019 that their employer medium respects this code (Kaltenbrunner et al., 2020: 198). This is remarkable, because the Press Council’s code of ethics does not apply to audiovisual media or the Internet. For the latter media, no national code of ethics exists.
Most of our interviewees accepted the guidelines of the code of ethics and affirmed compliance with high ethical standards in their newsrooms, as they did in 2011 as well (Grünangerl & Trappel, 2011). Most of them even confirmed that the norms of the code are often and regularly quoted in newsroom meetings, but not necessarily the code itself. This applies in particular to journalists and editors-in-chief of newspapers in our sample.
At the level of communication research, media ethics is a prominent field of activities in Austria. Since 2015, the Interdisciplinary Media Ethics Centre unites communication scholars and practitioners to discuss and consult on media ethics. The centre is based at the University of Klagenfurt (or Celovec).
Another association dedicated to the improvement of journalistic (ethical) standards is the Initiative für Qualität im Journalismus [Initiative for Quality in Journalism], which organises public discussions about ethical standards and quality in journalistic work.[i]
Compared with 2009, codes of ethics are better networked into journalism practices, and after ten years, almost all print media today honour the work of the Austrian Press Council. However, there is not a national code of ethics for audiovisual and Internet-based media, let alone legally binding instruments.
[i] https://www.iq-journalismus.at/
