Mass Media

Jason NixJournalism Instructor and Program Director

JOURN 110Spokane Falls Community College

Chapter 15

Media Ethics: Understanding Media Morality

Chapter Outline• History• Ethical Principles• Controversies

A Brief History of Media Ethics

Ethics• Generally speaking, “ethics” is the

study of guidelines that help people determine right from wrong in their moral conduct.

EarlyHistory of Media Ethics

Penny Press• Horace Greely and the New York

Tribune.

• Yellow Journalism• Sensationalism• William Randolph Hearst• Joseph Pulitzer• Muckraking

The Electronic Era

• Blacklisting• The practice of keeping a particular

type of person from working in media and other industries.

• Deception• Janet Cooke• Jayson Blair

The Digital Era

• The ethics of unlimited information• Who is considered a journalist?• Free speech online

• Hate speech• Porn• WikiLeaks

• Content Factories• Patent trolling

Basic Ethical Orientations

• Absolutist Ethics• There is a clear right and wrong for

every ethical decision• This is moral realism as opposed to

moral relativism• Prescriptive codes

• Outlining what you should do ahead of time

• Proscriptive Codes• What you should NOT do

Basic Ethical Orientations• Kantian

Ethics• Kant’s

Categorical Imperative• Kant sought

principles that would hold true in all situations

• Something is just if and only if it is just in all situations

Basic Ethical Orientations• Rawls’s Veil of

Ignorance• Make a decision as

if you knew nothing at all about that person’s connections, status, wealth, race, etc.

Basic Ethical Orientations

• Aristotle• Golden Mean

• Moderation should be a guiding principle

Basic Ethical Orientations

• J.S. Mill•Utilitarianism

•Actions are ethical if and only if they result in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people

Basic Ethical Orientations

• Machiavellian Ethics• The end

justifies the means

Basic Ethical Orientations

• Situation Ethics• Ethical decisions should rely primarily on

context, not a rigid adherence to a set of rules

• Also known as: Relativistic Ethics

Conflicting Loyalties

• Duty to personal conscience• Duty to organization, firm,

employer• Duty to one’s profession• Duty to society• Duty to God

Conflicts of Interest• Friends and family• Financial links• Professional aspirations• Publication rights• Checkbook journalism

Accountability• Corporate Ownership• Corporate Censorship• Ombudsman• News Councils• Professional Publications• Citizen’s Groups

Chapter 15

Media Ethics: Understanding Media Morality

Chapter Outline• History• Ethical Principles• Controversies

Mass Media

Jason NixJournalism Instructor and Program Director

JOURN 110Spokane Falls Community College