The Lights Camera Wiki! / Wildlife video initiative is a part of WikiProject Lights Camera Wiki, in collaboration with Wikimedia New York City. Its purpose is to encourage broader public creation of video content about wildlife.

Participants are encouraged to produce short videos that show examples of wildlife, with the videos being used to enhance the corresponding Wikipedia articles.

We are thrilled to work with Earth Touch on this initiative.

See the main Lights Camera Wiki page for general video workflow instructions.

Media coverage of wildlife and the natural environment requires professional expertise as well as specific wildlife knowledge. More importantly, it demands high levels of personal integrity that support the values of environmental awareness and concern. Producers must scrupulously avoid harming their subjects or their habitats.

Public Trust[edit]

• Content producers are responsible for reporting fairly, with integrity and independence. Their first obligations are to the public and to the environment. • Content producers appreciate that they • must uphold the public trust in order to protect ’s credibility; • must be aware of social diversity and differing viewpoints in wildlife and environmental conservation discourse; • must not oversimplify issues or events; • must be aware that they are responsible for providing accurate information that will help the public to make enlightened decisions about wildlife and environmental conservation issues.

Fairness[edit]

• Content producers are responsible for presenting editorial content fairly and impartially. • They are responsible for • treating all subjects with respect; • presenting diverse opinions and ideas; • conveying information to the public without bias or stereotype; • showing sensitivity to the well-being and protection of the environment and wildlife; • being aware of the potential impact their representation of their subjects may have on the public’s perception of wildlife and environmental issues.

Integrity[edit]

• Content producers are expected to respect the dignity and intelligence of their audience and subjects, and to display integrity and decency in presenting content.

• The following guidelines should be applied: • Identify sources. Confidential sources may only be justified when it is in the public interest, or if being identified could harm a source. In this case, Content producers will, within the law, strive to protect confidential sources. • Do not use covert practices (such as hidden cameras or microphones) when obtaining information from people or organisations. Such methods are only justifiable in cases where there is no other way to investigate stories that have significant public or environmental importance, and then only if the circumstances are explained to the audience. • Use authoritative sources. Information-gathering from websites which encourage user-generation of content should be avoided. • Be aware of and avoid possible conflicts of interest. • Use outside content only with the permission of the creator or owner. Always publicly acknowledge the source. • Use technology with integrity. • Avoid distorting facts or reality.

Independence[edit]

• Content producers should strive to uphold their creative independence within the context of the broader broadcast television industry.

• The potential influence of sponsors, advertisers, sources, subjects, powerful individuals or special-interest groups should be balanced with the need to maintain the integrity of ’s finished products. • Content producers must withstand efforts by individuals or organisations to intimidate or influence their professional conduct, judgement or ethics.

Accuracy[edit]

• Factual mistakes must be promptly corrected. • Corrections must be clearly labelled. o Content producers must notify editors or senior staff about errors or potential errors in their own work or a colleague’s work as soon as they become apparent. o Audience complaints must be promptly and appropriately investigated and addressed. o must not use images or scripts that could give the audience false or misleading information about a subject or its behaviour.

Accountability[edit]

• Content producers must recognise that they are accountable to the public, their profession and themselves. They must • encourage high production standards; • be transparent about the production process, especially if it results in questions or controversy; • not require unethical actions from employees or outside contributors; • encourage an environment in which professional ethical concerns can be openly discussed and addressed.

• Documentary stories rely on dramatisation and visual material does undergo an editing process. Nevertheless, every effort should be made to ensure that edited material reflects the actual circumstances filmed. Sequences should always be handled in a sensitive and candid manner and be corroborated by thorough and truthful research.

• When audiovisual embellishments are used, the integrity of the film or photographic content should be maintained. The resulting material should still reflect a realistic situation as far as this is possible. • If footage is edited or used out of the original context, the end result should still reflect the genuine nature of the subject/s concerned. • If possible, content should provide information about the setting in which it was acquired. • Charts and graphics must be accurate representations of data and reflect accurate proportions. Data cannot be changed to fit a chart or graphic. • The sources of graphics and charts must be credited. • Readers must be alerted to any content containing potentially disturbing material.

• The fundamental principle of this code is the recognition that the welfare of wildlife and the environment is more important than any video footage or other content. field crew must always place the welfare of the subject above any other considerations, including time pressures and the cost of production.

• field crew are responsible for ensuring that their presence will not have harmful or negative consequences for the ecosystem in which they work. This means they must pledge never to damage, pollute or harass any flora or fauna.

• field crew need to conduct sufficient prior research in order to understand the animals they encounter and the habitats in which they work. They must use this knowledge to guide their actions and decisions. • Field crew should be able to identify the point at which human presence in the wild becomes harassment or unwarranted disturbance and take appropriate action. • Field crew should commit to broadening their knowledge and skills to advance the practice of wildlife conservation and environmental protection. They should be sensitive to differing viewpoints on wildlife and environmental safeguards and exhibit concern and respect for the earth and animal life. • Field crew must never jeopardise subjects through habituation or feeding. They should discourage animals from becoming familiar. • Field crew must not leave equipment or personal belongings around their vehicle, camp or hide. They must also carry away any litter in the vicinity of filming. They must never burn, bury or otherwise discard litter or waste material. • Some animal species will permanently abandon a site because of human odour. Field crew must be sensitive to this and should avoid using overpowering perfumes or colognes. • When walking or driving through the bush, field crew should keep to established tracks as far as possible in order to avoid damage or unnecessary disturbance to ecosystems. • Field crew must display maturity and patience when recording footage and must never recklessly invade an animal’s territory. • Field crew must be prepared to deal with unexpected conditions without damaging the environment or their subjects. They should also keep equipment and staff at a sufficient distance to avoid unnecessary disturbance to a site or subjects. This also applies when dealing with people/animals that may be attracted by filming activities. • Field crew must never surround or trap an animal that is trying to get away or use a vehicle or vessel to block an animal’s escape route. When filming marine life from a boat, field crew should move at low speed parallel to swimming animals. They should avoid approaching head-on or from behind and take care not to separate individual animals from a group. • Drugging or restraining an animal in order to alter its behaviour for filming or to attract a predator is prohibited. • Night shooting using artificial lights can make subjects vulnerable to predators. After conducting prior research to ascertain any risk posed to the subjects, field crew must take genuine, careful precautions to ensure subjects are not put in harm’s way. • Field crew must adhere to all laws and regulations concerning the ecological sensitivity of areas where they work. They should also follow all local and national wildlife laws and the lawful orders of park officials, rangers and guides. Crews also need to respect wildlife closure areas. • If an animal is in trouble as a result of human actions, especially illegal actions, field crew must contact the relevant local authorities.

• Many professional media and wildlife codes were researched in compiling the code of ethics. We gratefully acknowledge the following organisations’ codes, which provided a useful foundation for the final text:

• The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) Statement of Principles. o http://www.asne.org/kiosk/archive/principl.htm

• Society of Professional Journalists: Ethics code. • http://www.spj.org/ethics.asp

• The Associated Press Statement of News Values. • http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html

• Denali National Park and Preserve: Photographers Code Of Ethics. • http://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/upload/CodeOfEthics.pdf

• Marine Wildlife Viewing Guidelines. o http://www.watchablewildlife.org.

• Filmmakers for Conservation: Ethical guidelines. o http://www.filmmakersforconservation.org/index.htm

Please sign up here and give a list of the types of wildlife you plan to shoot, to reserve them and avoid a duplication of efforts.

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