Teaching Media Ethics in the General Education

JOUR 110 Introduction to Mass Communications

Course

Ethics Across the Curriculum ProjectRaul Reis

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

California State University, Long Beach

JOUR 110

General Education course

About 220 students per semester (2 sections)

Main goals of course:

Students develop and improve their critical thinking, reading and writing skills by focusing on the relationship between mass media and society;

Students analyze the interactions between mass media and social, economic, political, cultural, ethnic-based, and gender-based issues.

JOUR 110

Very strong media literacy component, in that it trains students to reflect critically on their massive consumption of mass media messages

Students analyze media issues (e.g., social media) by reading, evaluating, synthesizing and presenting conflicting views

Based on the authors’ perspectives and on the students’ own positions and media experience

Ethics Module in JOUR 110

Ethics issues faced by media producers and consumers should become a significant part of the course

Ethical media issues include:

Digital photography and digital video manipulation

Use of unnamed or unreliable sources

Sensationalism

(cont.)

Ethics Module in JOUR 110

Ethical media issues (cont.):

Invasion of privacy

Government and corporate pressures on the media

Falsehood and distortion in news stories

Advertising in an image-based culture

Public relations ethics and social responsibility.

Ethics Module’s Learning Outcomes

Developing a basic understanding of what it means to act ethically

Learning the tools to identify and analyze ethical issues

Learning what some of the most relevant media ethics issues are

Developing a basic ability to understand and apply a variety of philosophical approaches to solve media ethics issues.

Modes of Instruction

This 3-hour teaching module will consist of:

An initial discussion of what is ethics and some basic ethical principles

A discussion about ethical decision-making as a systematic, informed process

(cont.)

Modes of Instruction

This 3-hour teaching module will consist of (cont.):

Identifying some of the most prominent media ethics issues

Choosing five of those ethical issues for closer examination

A discussion of how ethical principles and a systematic ethical decision-making process would help us to analyze and resolve those five ethical issues.

Class Activities

Students read a handout (“Ethical Foundations and Perspectives”, in Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, by Clifford Christians et al.) prior to the first lecture

First lecture would focus on what is ethics, the difference between ethics and religion, ethics and law, ethics and morality; ethical decision-making as a systematic process; the main ethical principles

Class Activities

Class would segue into a discussion about media ethics, and the instructor would prompt students to list the most relevant ethical issues in mass media

Students and instructor would rank the top five media ethics issues, based on class discussion

Small groups would be formed and assigned one of the ethical issues identified in class

Class Activities

Small groups would be asked to meet (face to face or virtually) between the two lectures to discuss the ethical principles and how they relate to their own media ethics issue

Groups will also have to research and find one real-life media case that exemplifies their ethical dilemma.

Second Lecture

Second lecture would start with follow up and more detailed directions from the instructor, followed by the small groups meeting to discuss the real-life case

Groups discuss how the ethical principles apply to it; and how a systematic ethical decision-making process would help them to resolve the dilemma

Instructor would assist the small groups in their discussion

Groups would make a brief presentation about their real-life case and decision-making process.

Assessment

Small groups would be asked to turn in a brief summary of their case and discussion (for the beginning of following class)

A follow up classroom discussion could ask students to describe and explain how much they learned about media ethics

The midterm or final exam should include a short essay question about media ethics and ethical decision-making.

Bibliography

Christians, Clifford G. et al. “Ethical Foundations and Perspectives”, in Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning. Pearson Education. Boston, 2009.

Patterson, Philip, and Wilkins, Lee. Media Ethics: Issues and Cases. McGraw-Hill. Boston, 2008.