Peter John

This research paper defines a set of five principles, summarised as five questions, to guide media practitioners to ethical decisions under deadline pressure. They are: 1. Truth – does this attempt to tell the truth? 2. Integrity – does this compromise the integrity of the reporter or newspaper? 3. Respect – does this respect everyone involved? 4. Fairness – is this fair to all? 5. Readers' interests – is this in the interests of the readers? Selected guides for uncovering principles are selected and deconstructed. The three main ones are Beauchamp and Childress's “Principles of Biomedical Ethics”, “The Satchwell Report on Media Ethics,” and “The South African Press Council Code of Ethics and Behaviour.” The Press Council's Code of Ethics helps uncovering the five principles, Satchwell is less helpful and Beauchamp and Childress provide the useful methodology used in the paper. Principlism itself is analysed and critiqued by five philosophers. It is finally considered useful in the limited way required by the demands of quick ethical decisions. Previous studies are found wanting in positing principles. Interrogation of moral virtues like justice, beneficence and nonmaleficence shine some light on the quest for principles. Examining utilitarianism, Kantianism, rights theory and virtue ethics proves helpful. Six practical dilemmas are discussed and decision-taking measured against the five principles. The search for ethical perfection will never end, but principles suggested in this paper may help guide those journalists looking for a map

In this study, the dissolution of hemp–wool blend yarns in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [Emim][OAc] has been investigated. The hybrid yarns were dissolved in excess IL at various temperatures and times, followed by coagulation in water. Optical microscopy (OM), gravimetric analysis and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to monitor structural changes of the two components separately during the dissolution and subsequent coagulation. All results showed that the hemp cellulose fraction dissolved faster than the wool keratin part, this being due to the additional strong disulfide bonds in the keratin (wool) fibres and the complex hierarchical structure of keratin. The increase in the cellulose dissolved fraction, which remained after coagulation in water, was measured by XRD and was found to follow time–temperature superposition (TTS) with an Arrhenius behaviour, giving an activation energy for cellulose dissolution of Ea = 55 ± 5 kJ/mol. Analysis of the optical images and the gravimetric analysis showed that both the cross-sectional area (A) and the mass per unit length decreased with time and temperature. They both followed (TTS) and gave activation energies of Ea = 112 ± 11 kJ/mol and 109 ± 6 kJ/mol, respectively, leading to an average value of 111 ± 9 kJ/mol. We propose that this is the activation energy for the dissolution of the keratin fraction of the hybrid yarn in [Emim][OAc], as we attribute the mass loss (and decrease in the cross-sectional area) of the hybrid yarns to the loss of the keratin fraction, which is removed during the coagulation phase. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to apply TTS to a cellulose–keratin hybrid system and deconvolute the dissolution behaviour of each component through the characterisation and analysis, providing new insight into the dissolution dynamics of blended biopolymers in ionic liquids.