CHAPTER 14 · CHAPTER 14 — Ethical Considerations— GC / MCS 115 © 2012 The McGraw-Hill...
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CHAPTER 14 — Ethical Considerations— GC / MCS 115
Transcript of CHAPTER 14 · CHAPTER 14 — Ethical Considerations— GC / MCS 115 © 2012 The McGraw-Hill...
CHAPTER 14 — Ethical Considerations—
GC / MCS 115
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Defining and Refining the First Amendment 6. Free Press vs. Fair Trial
Ø Free Press (First Amendment) Ø Fair Trial (Sixth Amendment)
Ø Can pretrial publicity deny citizens judgment by 12 impartial peers?
A Short History of the First Amendment
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Defining and Refining the First Amendment 6. Free Press vs. Fair Trial
Ø Free Press (First Amendment) Ø Fair Trial (Sixth Amendment)
Ø Should cameras be allowed in the courtroom, supporting the public’s right to know, or do they alter the workings of the court that a fair trial is impossible?
A Short History of the First Amendment
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Defining and Refining the First Amendment 7. Libel and Slander
Ø Libel: the false or malicious publication of material that damages a person’s reputation
Ø Slander: the oral or spoken defamation of a person’s character
• Both are not protected by the First Amendment
A Short History of the First Amendment
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Defining and Refining the First Amendment 7. Libel and Slander
Ø New York Times vs. Sullivan (1964) Ø The U.S. Supreme Court defined the standard
of actual malice
A Short History of the First Amendment
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Defining and Refining the First Amendment 8. Prior Restraint
Ø The power of the government to prevent the publication or broadcast of expression
Ø Near vs. Minnesota (1931) Supreme Court ruling that freedom from prior restraint was a general, not an absolute principle
Ø The Progressive magazine (1979)
A Short History of the First Amendment
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Defining and Refining the First Amendment 9. Obscenity and Pornography
Ø Landmark Supreme Court cases that established definition and illegality of obscenity:
Ø Roth vs. United States (1957) Ø Miller vs. State of California (1973)
• How do courts, media, and the public judge content against standards set out in Miller case?
A Short History of the First Amendment
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Other Issues of Freedom and Responsibility • Indecency
• Deregulation
• Copyright
• The Internet and Expanding Copyright
A Short History of the First Amendment
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Social Responsibility Theory
• Normative theory
Ø Social responsibility theory: Media must remain free of government control, but in exchange media must serve the public
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Social Responsibility Theory
• Normative theory
• Core assumptions of social responsibility theory: 1. Media should accept and fulfill certain obligations to society 2. Media can meet these obligations by setting high standards of professionalism, truth, accuracy, and objectivity 3. Media should be self-regulating within the framework of the law
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Social Responsibility Theory • Normative theory
• Core assumptions of social responsibility theory: 4. Media should avoid disseminating material that might lead to crime, violence, or civil disorder or that might offend minority groups 5. The media as a whole should be pluralistic 6. Public has a right to expect high standards of performance, and official intervention can be justified to ensure public good 7. Media professionals should be accountable to society, employers and the market
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Industry Ethics
• Ethics: The rules of behavior or moral principles that guide our actions in given situations
Ø Metaethics
Ø Normative ethics Ø Applied ethics
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Industry Ethics
• Ethics: The rules of behavior or moral principles that guide our actions in given situations
• Truth and honesty • Privacy • Confidentiality • Personal conflict of interest • Profit and social responsibility • Offensive content
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Industry Ethics • Codes of Ethics and Self-Regulation
Ø All major groups of media professionals established formal codes or standards of ethical behavior
Ø Broadcast networks have Standards and Practices Departments
Ø Local broadcasters have policy books.
Ø Newspapers and magazines: operating policies and editorial policies
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Industry Ethics • Codes of Ethics and Self-Regulation
• Ombudsmen • Media councils
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Developing Media Literacy Skills
• Media Reform • Numerous organizations and media
personalities publicly oppose the FCC’s weakening of the country’s media ownership rules
• American citizens are making their voices heard in far greater numbers to reclaim the airwaves
• The people have spoken against greater media concentration and for media reform
