Media Ethics Flashcards
Ethics
Moral rules of conduct that
guide one’s decisions
three primary ethical
philosophies
Ethical Philosophies
IF you answered NO…
You are an ABSOLUTIST and you
subscribe to deontological ethics.
IF you answered YES…
You are an RELATIVIST and you subscribe to teleological ethics.
IF you answered MAYBE…
You subscribe to situational ethics.
Deontological
ABSOLUTISM: Ethics of duty
End never justifies means.
EXAMPLE: Stealing is wrong.
Duty to do what is right
* Right vs. Wrong
* Determined by fixed set of principles
Discover principles/rules & follow them
Categorical Imperative
Developed by Immanuel Kant
18th Century GermanPhilosopher
“…human knowledge rely upon a priori
judgments”
Act on maxim you wish to become universal law
Take action in ways you want to be universal
Kantian Ethics
* Kantian ethics is based upon the teachings of the philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). According to Kant, the concept of “motive” is the most important factor in determining what is ethical. More specifically, Kant argued that a moral action is one that is performed out of a “sense of duty.”
* For Kant, a moral action is not based upon feelings or pity. Nor is it is not based on the possibility of reward. Instead, a moral action is one based on a sense of “This is what I ought to do.”
* To use an example, with Kantian ethics helping an old lady across the street because you feel pity for her is NOT a moral act. Likewise, helping an old lady because your coworker will think highly of you is NOT a moral act. However, helping an old lady because you have a sense of duty to help the elderly IS a moral act.
Absolutist Journalists
Duty of the journalist is to report the news
Main concern whether event is newsworthy
High value on justice and what is right
-How information is obtained is important
Focused on message
-If journalists worried about possible consequences of reporting something they would never report anything…attributed to Walter Cronkite
Teleological Ethics
RELATIVISM: Ethics of final ends
End justifies means
EXAMPLE: Someone stealing food for a hungry child performs a virtuous act.
Consequences of act determine
whether or not it is ethical
Pragmatism
Popularized by John Dewey
-20th century educator andphilosopher
Human purposes are derived from wants
and needs
Judge actions by their results
-Try to determine appropriate action by anticipating probable outcome
Relative Journalist
Relative Journalist
Purpose of reporting:
-To be a watch dog on government
- Protect common good
- Keep public informed
Looks at motivations of persons involved
Concealing identity to get info justified if it benefits others
Situational Ethics
Ethics of specific acts
Whether end justifies means depends on situation.
EXAMPLE: Stealing is justifiable in some circumstances.
Moral principles are relative to situation
Break rules if situation requires it
DETERMINER
DETERMINER: Veils of Ignorance
Developed by John Rawl
- Political theorist
Treat everyone the same
- Ignore biases of race, gender, age, etc.
- Purposefully conceal social or economic status when looking at people
Journalists often are harsher with famous people or public officials
- Using perspective may tame adversarial attitudes
DETERMINER: Golden Rule
“Do unto others…”
- Biblical/Religious Precept
Love of Neighbor
- Popularized by Joseph Fletcher
- All principles are relative in relation to “Love your neighbor as yourself”
- Set aside ethical principles if needed to “love” others
Dilemma between value of individual vs. community at large
DETERMINER: Utilitarianism
Popularized by John Stuart Mills
- 19th Century British Philosopher & Political
Economist (On Liberty)
“Seek the greatest happiness for the
greatest number…”
- What will harm fewest or benefit most
Variations
-“…greatest good…”
-“…over long periods of time.”
* long term effects outweigh immediate
DETERMINER: Utilitarianism
Popularized by John Stuart Mills
- 19th Century British Philosopher & Political Economist (On Liberty)
“Seek the greatest happiness for the
greatest number…”
- What will harm fewest or benefit most
Variations
-“…greatest good…”
-“…over long periods of time.”
* long term effects outweigh immediate
DETERMINER: Golden Mean
Developed by Aristotle
- 322 BC Greek Philosopher, student of Plato,
head of The School of Athens
Rationale moral position that avoids
extremes
- “…appropriate location between two extreme..”
-moderate balance
Journalistic practice of trying to showing tragedy without offending victims or those involved
Media Ethics: Definition
Issues of moral principles and standards as applied to the conduct,
roles, and content of the mass media, in particular journalistic ethics
and advertising ethics; also the field of study concerned with this
topic.
In relation to news coverage it includes issues such as impartiality,
objectivity, balance, bias, privacy, and the public interest. More
generally, it also includes stereotyping, taste and decency, obscenity,
freedom of speech, plagiarism, advertising practices such as product
placement, and legal issues such as defamation.
On an institutional level it includes debates over media ownership
and control, commercialization, accountability, the relation of the
media to the political system, issues arising from regulation (e.g.
censorship) and deregulation.
Code of Ethics provisions
▪ Seek truth andreport it
▪ Minimize harm
▪ Actindependently
▪ Be accountable
Some Rules Of Thumb
- Don’t Make Things Up
- The most basic rule in journalism
- Related: plagiarism is ano-no
▪ Content gathered online is subject to thesame
attribution rules as other content. - Related: direct quotes are exactquotes
- Avoid Conflicts of Interest
- Do not quote or interview your familymembers
unless you’re writing a personal essay - Do not report on story in which you or family
members are directly involved - Do not accept gifts from sources
- What to do about“friends”?
“Our online data trails reflect on our professional reputations and those of The Washington
Post. Be sure that your pattern of use does not suggest, for example, thatyou are interested
only in people with one particular view ofa topic or issue.” ~
(Washington Post guidance on use of social media)
LA Times updates social mediapolicy
- Be Fair and Neutral
- Seek out the truth and reportall sides
- Always contact someone who is being criticized by others
- Write in the “objective” voice —keep your opinion to yourself
▪ Exceptions?
- Identify Yourself
* Always tell a potential source that you’rea
reporter working on astory
* Never turn a conversation into aninterview
without permission - Admit Your Mistakes
* We all make them
* Prompt and willing correction
▪ Ways to do this?
* Adds to your credibility
Digital Affordances – Digital Disruption
- Individuals all over the world can use Airbnb to rent an apartment in a foreign city, check Coursera to find a course on statistics, exchange information about one’s disease, hail a cab using Uber, or follow international developments on Twitter.
- The promise of connective platforms is that they offer personalized services and contribute to innovation and economic growth, while bypassing cumbersome institutional or industrial overhead.
- In The Platform Society is a comprehensive analysis of a connective world where platforms have penetrated the heart of societies, disrupting markets and labor relations, circumventing institutions, transforming
social and civic practices and affecting democratic processes.
Framework and Issues
- This approach questions what role online platforms play in the organization of Western societies. First, how do platform mechanisms work and to what effect are they deployed?
- Second, how can platforms incorporate public values and benefit the public good? The Platform Society analyzes intense struggles between competing ideological systems and contesting societal actors – market, government and civil society – raising the issue of who is or should be responsible for anchoring public values and the common good in a platform society.
- Public values include of course privacy, accuracy, safety, and security, but they also pertain to broader societal effects, such as fairness, accessibility, democratic control, and accountability. Such values are the very stakes in the struggle over the platformization of societies around the globe.
The authors present us with the fact that the infrastructural platforms which are owned and operated by the “Big Five” companies have also became major operators of sectoral platforms through various kinds of alliances such as ownerships, relations, partnerships and they penetrate every domain of social and economic life, regardless of the nature of the domain (whether it is a commercial sector, private sector, government sector, non-public or nonprofit sector) while bypassing local and national institutions.
How Visual Communication Can be Misleading
- Captions, descriptions, or narration used to accompany
images - Proximity of images to text or other photos
- Photo Selection or exclusion
- Cropping
