Midterm Exam Flashcards
Absolutist
Duty-Based Ethics.
Very strict and emphasis on rules and commitment to duty.
Advocacy Positions
Positions in public relations and advertising. They must only provide their viewers with the truth and don’t need to be balanced/fair or objective like the news media.
PR people promote the image of one person or business and advertising people promote a product or service.
Agape
Care-Based Ethics.
Totally selfless, pure, unconditional love that you can give to another. This is all about the other person.
Aristotle
Virtue Ethics.
He’s all about finding a happy medium being overdoing something or underdoing it.
Autonomy
Freedom to do as you please or acting independently.
Jeremy Bentham
Utilitarianism.
Jayson Blair
New York Times reporter who resigned after committing journalistic fraud and fabricated material in over half of his stories.
Louis Brandeis
Young lawyer who proposed a legal recognition for the right to be left alone and monetary damages for citizens who had suffered from privacy violations, alongside Samuel Warren.
Care-Based Ethics
Starts of during time of Christ. It has religious foundations Golden rule: "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and "Do to others as you would do to you." Reversibility Agape (Greek term)
Categorical Imperatives
Commands that fit in certain categories. When it comes to the category of life, the command is to do no harm. Category of truth, the command is to not lie.
Code of Ethics
Written statements of principles used so that people can know what’s expected of them and to recognize the fundamental values for which these organizations stand for. Used by media practitioners, professional careers (lawyers, doctors, psychologists), and media institutions.
Consequentialist
Utilitarianism.
End results matter.
Janet Cooke
Young reporter who fabricated a dramatic account of an 8 y/o heroin addict for the Washington Post and was forced to return her Pulitzer prize.
Criticisms of the Different Ethical Approaches
Virtue: The middle ground doesn’t always exist in every situation.
Care-Based: World peace would exist if this approach existed.
Duty-Based: So rigid/locked in. Not realistic bc life is not that clear cut.
Utilitarianism: Relies too much on prediction bc it’s so focused on the outcome.
Social Contract: Too malleable, not set in stone. They’re apt to be rewritten.
Relativism: It’s not ethics. No roadmap like the others bc there’s no telling what is ethical or not.
Egoism: Selfish. Not even close to being an ethical approach.
Feminist: Creates a battle of the sexes. More friction bc sometimes seen as more aggressive.
Data Mining
Companies can collect data about our individual lives, preferences, and tastes to have those companies fashion messages for particular target audiences.
Deontological
Duty-Based Ethics.
Deon-duty.
John Dewey
Relativism.
American philosopher known for wanting to improve education in the 1900s.
Diversity Spectrum
Friendly to Diversity Interests: Feminist, care-based, duty-based
Middle: Virtue and relativism
Potentially Hostile to Diversity Interests: Social contract, utilitarianism, egoism.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
Care-Based Ethics.
Docudramas
The dramatic blending of facts and fiction as a credible TV format for communicating historical events. The producer’s goal is to create an interesting story. Docudramas frequently alter or distort historical facts.
Duty-Based Ethics
Begins during 1700s in Germany with philosopher Kant.
Focus: As human beings, we have certain duties to abide by.
Maxims/universal laws, absolute truths, categorical imperatives
“the ends do not justify the means”
Non-consequentialist/deon(duty)tological- it’s not about the consequence, it’s about the initial action.
Egalitarian
Relating to or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.
“Ends justify the means”
Utilitarianism.
“Ends do not justify the means”
Duty-Based Ethics.
Ethics, Laws, and Morals
Ethics-what we should do. A set of principles or a code of moral conduct.
Laws-what we’re allowed to do or prohibited from doing.
Morals-way of life/conduct.
Ethics and morals are synonymous.
Explicit
Stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.
Implicit
Implied though not plainly expressed.
Feminist Ethics
Focus: A rationale way of life includes reason, but infuses some thought process into that (emotions). The analytical way to life isn’t the whole picture.
Emphasis on relationships, nurturing, connectedness.
“Think with your heart as well as your head.”
Like care-based, but not religious overtones.
FCC
Federal Communications Commission.
Virtue Ethics.
Developed Safe Harbor compromise for tv to air explicit things during 10 pm to 6 am.
FTC
Federal Trade Commission.
Provided with new powers to oversee deceptive and unfair advertising practices in 1938 by Congress.
Golden Mean
Virtue Ethics.
Middle road.
Golden Rule
Care-Based Ethics
Love thy neighbor as thyself and do unto others as you do unto yourself.
“Greatest good for the greatest number”
Utilitarianism.
Harmonious/Communal Living
Social Contract Ethics.
Heintz Dilemma
Heintz had a terminally ill wife with cancer. He’s trying to buy this $2000 drug for her, but only has $1000. The druggist refuses to extend him credit. Should he steal the drug or risk her life?
Thomas Hobbes
Social Contract Ethics.
“If society agrees to it, it’s what we do”
Social Contract Ethics.
Immanuel Kant
Duty-Based Ethics.
Libertarian Philosophy
Let the company do as they please. They believe in letting the market take care of it. So no government involvement, and if the business fails it was due to the owner, not the gov’t.
Linguistic Ambiguity
When no specific product claims are made.
Ex. “You’re in good hands” compared to “the best deal.”
John Locke
Social Contract Ethics.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself”
Care-Based Ethics.
“Me, me, me…It’s all about me”
Egoism.
Metaethics vs. Applied Ethics
Metaethics - attempts to assign meaning to the abstract language of moral philosophy. Concerned with the study of the characteristics, or nature, of ethics. Metaethics is not concerned with making moral judgements but instead attempts to distinguish ethical values from those that involve merely matters of taste or attitude.
Applied Ethics - concerned with using these theoretical norms to solve ethical problems in the real world. Problem-solving branch of moral philosophy. It uses insights derived from metaethics and the general principles and rules of normative ethics in addressing specific ethical issues and concrete cases. The vital link between theory and practice.
John Stuart Mill
Utilitarianism.
Moral Agent
The ones who make ethical judgements, regardless of whether they are acting on their own volition or as institutional representatives.
News Council
Designed to investigate complaints against the media, investigate the charges, and then publish their findings.
Very rare to find today in the US. More common in Europe.
News Media
They’re expected to honor the truth, balance, and objectivity when reporting a story.
Non-Consequentialist
Duty-Based Ethics.
Ombudsman
An official appointed to investigate individuals complaints against maladministration, especially that of public authorities.
Original Position
Social Contract Ethics.
Assume a blank state when you step behind the veil of ignorance.
News Staging vs. News Re-Enactments
News staging - news and captions depicting something unrelated to what actually took place.
News re-enactment - when you don’t have appropriate visuals to illustrate a story so you just reenact it even if it has nothing to do with the original story.
Plagiarism vs. Fabrication
Plagiarism - the taking of another person’s ideas or expression and passing it off as your own.
Fabrication - falsifying info.
Pre-Publication Review
Allowing sources to review their stories prior to publication. This only confirms the accuracy of the story and doesn’t change tone or interpretation.
Privacy Law - Four Types of Privacy Invasion
Intrusion - unwarranted violation of one’s physical solitude.
Publicity of embarrassing private facts - the media can be held liable if the info would be highly offensive to a reasonable and is not of legitimate concern to the public.
False light - reporting falsehoods or distortions that leave an erroneous impression about someone. This can arise by mismatching stories and pictures.
Appropriation - oldest of the four types of invasion of privacy. It consists of the use of a person’s name, picture, or likeness without the person’s permission/usually for commercial exploitation.
Progressivism
Relativism.
Called this because this approach has progressed far away from traditional ethical thinking.
Rape Victims and Juvenile Offenders
Usually withhold rape victim names unless it’s necessary. Same for juvenile offenders except when they’re tried as adults.
John Rawls
Social Contract Ethics.
American philosopher and added the veil of ignorance and original position in the 1900s.
Relativism
Another response to Kant (duty-based ethics).
Late 1800s-mid 1900s.
Bertrand Russell and John Dewey.
Also known as progressivism or situation ethics.
Focus: Places a lot of emphasis on the individual and their unique situation.
Ex. cheating on a final to graduate. This approach tells us that this is relative to his situation and the person thinks it’s ethical under the circumstances.
“It depends on the situation and the parties involved.” or “whatever floats your boat.”
Reversibility
Care-Based Ethics.
Reverse the situation and imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Robin Hood
Duty-Based disagrees with this actions.
Utilitarianism agrees with this actions.
Jean Jacque Rousseau
Social Contract Ethics.
Bertrand Russell
Relativism.
Safe Harbor
Created by the FCC to allow tv stations to air explicit, gory, inappropriate things from 10 pm to 6 am while kids are not watching.
Secular
Of or relating to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred.
Situation Ethics
Relativism.
Edward Snowden
Worked for the CIA until he leaked classified info from the NSA in 2013.
Julian Assange
Computer programmer who created WikiLeaks which publishes secret info.
Chelsea Manning
Soldier who disclosed to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents
Social Contract Ethics
During 1600s-1700s in Europe.
Some of the thinkers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
Focus: Creating a situation where people can live in harmony / communal living.
Egalitarian - equal voice, equal society which is how we should live.
“If society agrees to it, then that’s what we should do” or “let’s put it to a vote.”
It’s not necessarily voting, but either accepting or rejecting these social contracts, for example red light to stop, we all just agreed that we stop at the red light, and if enough people want to change stopping to another color, then they can so that people can live in harmony to not stirrup drama.
Criticisms: too maleable, not set in stone. They’re apt to be rewritten (ex. Gay marriage when it was originally only hetero marriage).
John Rawls, an American philosopher,(during 1900s) liked social contracts but was bothered by the idea that it can be a problem to minorities. Added a new layer to this approach.
Before any of us vote, each of us should step behind an invisible curtain (veil of ignorance) and forget who we are and take an original position (blank slate).
If you don’t know your identity under the veil, you’re most likely going to vote against it bc you don’t know how it’ll affect you since you’re in an original position (ex. Segregation).
Stakeholders
The parties that will be most affected by your actions.
Subjective
Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. Egoism?
“Take the middle road”
Virtue Ethics.
Teleological
Utilitarianism.
End results matter.
Temperance
Virtue Ethics.
Moderation.
“Think with you heart, as well with your head”
Feminist Ethics.
Universal Laws/Maxims
Laws that apply to everyone from all places.
Utilitarianism
Started during the 1800s in Britain with Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Sort of a backlash to duty-based ethics.
“The greater good for the greatest number”
“The ends do justify the means”
Consequentialist/Teleological - end results do matter even if the initial actions may be bad.
Values/Obligations
Autonomy, confidentiality, democracy, dignity, fairness, financial considerations, free speech, harm, justice, loyalty, newsworthiness, privacy, professionalism, respect, taste, trust, truth, credibility, objectivity.
Veil of Ignorance
Social Contract Ethics.
Created in 1900s, by John Rawls.
Virtue Ethics
Started off with Aristotle in Ancient Greece.
All about finding a happy medium between overdoing something or underdoing it.
Moderation/Temperence
Golden Mean: middle road
FCC created Safe Harbor
VNRs
Video news releases. They resemble typical TV news stories in their packaging but are produced on behalf of a client in attempt to get free airtime to promote a cause, product, or service. They’re distributed free to stations.
Samuel Warren
Young lawyer who proposed a legal recognition for the right to be left alone and monetary damages for citizens who had suffered from privacy violations, alongside Louis Brandeis.
“Whatever floats your boat”
Relativism.
