Chapter 15-media ethics Flashcards
The penny press and it’s quest for large audiences leads to excesses such as hoaxes
1830s
Theodore Roosevelt denounces muckrakers who “fix their eyes only on that which is file and debasing”
1906
Sensational tactics of the yellow price help lead to the Spanish-American war
1895
The canons of journalism, the first of the print media codes, calls for fair and accurate reporting
1923
National Association of broadcasters (NAB) ethics code, first of the electronic media codes, is established
1929
The motion picture production code is adopted, limiting the sex and violence that can be portrayed in movies
1930
The television quiz show scandals shock America, leading to network control of programming
1958
The success of the Internet creates problems with the “ethics of unlimited information”
2000’s
Glenn beck and other media commentators fan the flames of political divisions
2010
The NAB’s ethics code is dropped after the government declares it an antitrust violation
1983
Janet cook, reporter for the Washington post, is forced to return to the Pulitzer Prize when it is discovered that she made up facts and characters
1980
What is ethics?
The study of guidelines that help people determine right from wrong in their voluntary conduct
Purposeful deceptions of the public
Hoaxes
The practice of keeping a particular type of person from working in media and other industries
Blacklisting
Position is from which there is a clear-cut right or wrong response for every ethical decision
- rules are often based on religious ideals & are often rigidly enforced
Absolutist ethics
Guidelines that stipulate specific behaviors to be followed
Prescriptive codes
Guidelines that stress the things that should not be done
Proscriptive codes
Common newspaper rule stating that nothing should be published as fact unless at least two sources confirm it
Two-source rule
Immanuel Kant’s term for the ethical guidelines to look for principles that will hold true in all situations
Categorical Imperative
Another name for situation ethics
Relativistic ethics
John Rawls’s term associated with the idea that ethical behavior as possible only if everyone is treated equally
Veil of ignorance
Principle that ethical choices can be made according to the situation, without a rigid adherence to set rules
Situation ethics
Aristotle’s term for describing ethical behavior as a midpoint between extremes
Golden mean
Jon Stuart Mill’s idea that actions are ethical only if they result in the greatest good for the most people
Utilitarian principal (“greatest happiness principle”)
The idea that the end justifies the means
Machiavellian ethics
Theory that holds that doing what is right for yourself will probably be right for others
Enlightened self-interest
One camera crew shared by several TV news organizations
Pool cameras
Chaos that results when crowds of journalists descend on the scene of a news event
Media circus
Clash that occurs when an outside activity influence’s what a media professional does
Conflict of interest
Paying news sources for their stories
Checkbook journalism
Obligation to take responsibility, or account for, the consequences of one’s actions. In media ethics, accountability involves the questions of who controls the media practitioners and who has the power to punish them for ethical lapses.
Accountability
Departments at television networks that oversee the ethics of their programming
Standards and practices departments
Staff member whose job it is to oversee media employees ethical behavior
Ombudsperson
Independent agencies whose mission is to objectively monitor media performance
News councils
Associations made up of members of the public to exert influence, such as on the media
Citizens groups
What is Payola?
Record promoters payments to DJs to play their songs, both an ethical & legal scandal in the radio & recording industries
Who were two absolutist ethics?
Immanuel Kant & John Rawls
Who were the 3 situation ethics?
Aristotle, Machiavelli, & John Stuart Mill
This act stipulated that broadcasters should operate in “the public interest, convenience, & necessity”
Communications Act of 1934
