Media ethics

Applying theory to practice

Media ethics

• This branch of media studies concerns itself with what media practitioners and regulators (and still others in some cases) should do– What is right and what is wrong?

• Compare to empirical social science that attempts to identify what media are doing– Behavior– Effects

Moral decisions

• Decisions made by managers, practitioners, regulators, etc. in their professional/occupational roles all are inflected with moral choice– Most are made without much awareness of ethical

implications• Issues are ‘settled’

• Some decisions lead to self-analysis– Journalists are more likely than advertisers, fiction

producers to evaluate the ethical dimensions of stories, etc.

Moral/ethical theory

• Utilitarian v. deontological ethics• Rights v. duties• Process v. consequentialist ethics• Individual v. collective• Universal v. professional/role-playing

Theory and common practice

• The most common approach to ethics in media is based on a utilitarian/rational self-interest model– Produce the highest ratio of ‘pleasure’ to ‘pain’– Market economics is thought to be most effective

economic system for furthering this end– “The public’s right to know”

Christians

• Christians argues for a duties-based ethic for media professionals

• Potter Box for application in particular cases

– How does Christians argue for his view—what does he see as the main problems behind utilitarian/individualistic ethics?

– What new problems are generated?– What previous problems remain?

Practical application

• In all events/actions there are multiple factors and applicable theories, implications, etc.– Makes the computation of total good produced,

etc. pretty much impossible• In the absence of careful critical thought it is

easy for practitioners to justify their actions based on at least some related moral theory or ethical principle– “Give the public what it wants”

Examples

• Objective news reporting– Probably the most common ethic stated in your

short responses• Violence and sex in TV programming• Universal service for the Internet

McQuail's Mass CommunicationTheory

Figure 8.2 Equality as a media performance principle, together with related concepts

McQuail's Mass CommunicationTheory

Figure 8.3 Component criteria of objectivity (Westerstahl, 1983)

McQuail's Mass CommunicationTheory

Figure 8.5 Two accountability models compared

McQuail's Mass CommunicationTheory

Figure 8.6 Lines of accountability between media and external agents in relation to publication

“Potter Box”