Communication ethics in Kazakhstani podcasts on Youtube: The Dilemma between freedom and responsibility

Abstract

The digital media space in Kazakhstan is currently experiencing a rapid transformation. The podcasting format on YouTube especially has become a new platform for public debates, and it has opened up an informal and uncontrolled discourse that drifts the audience apart from traditional media. This study analyses the communication ethics of YouTube podcasters in Kazakhstan, how they balance between freedom of speech and social responsibility, and how the journalists meet the requirements of the code of ethics. The results of the qualitative analysis of the contents illustrate that podcasters commonly rely on manipulative strategies such as sensationalism, hate speech, boosting gender stereotypes, victim blaming, and “whataboutism” to get higher views by algorithms. The interview with the poet, playwright Bakyt Bedelkhan on YouTube channel of the journalist and writer Kanat Tileukhan, and the professional criticism on it have been chosen as the main content case. Accordingly, the study defined a gatekeeping crisis of a podcaster in digital media, a systematic avoiding of fact-checking, and the ethic dangers of causing an emotional resonance of the audience to get an economical profit. The study results reveal the institutional causes of the lacking of the code of ethics power in digital area, and promote the need of creating a new model of professional organizations, podcasts production, and platform regulations