The Role of Mass Communication in Seeing Ethical and Legal Issues of The Press in The Digital Era (Case Study: The Death of The Press in Greece)

Abstract

The development of the digitalization world is currently growing massively and cannot be controlled. The speed of digitalization has greatly impacted the change of traditional mass communication to digital. With the speed, interactivity and accessibility of the digital era, everything that happens is unhindered by place and time. The challenge of maintaining credibility and accuracy amid the rapid flow of information is a special study in the world of the press. This will also affect the professional ethics of a journalist. The comparison of press regulations in the traditional and digital era will also change. Issues related to defamation, hoax news and hate speech are in the spotlight today. The role of mass media in disclosing ethical cases is important. This research uses case analysis of press law cases in the digital era. The method used is a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. The results showed that the life of journalists' professional rights in the Greek state was almost extinct, they could not defend their rights as journalists. Even the state in its government system cannot do much. Therefore, the code of ethics of the journalist profession contained in Law 40 of 1999 must be realized properly and correctly. With the revelation of this case in Greece, it has made the wider community understand the function and role of the media as it should be. Therefore, everything if it has entered the realm of digital footprints will last forever and cannot be avoided. The “Death of the Press in Greece” case reflects a number of violations of fundamental press ethics, such as press freedom, editorial independence, journalist safety, and information integrity. These issues highlight the enormous challenges faced by the media in carrying out their role as watchdogs and purveyors of accurate and objective information amidst severe political and economic pressures.