Ethics and the Media: An Introduction

299 Pages·2011·1.482 MB·English

by  Stephen J. A. Ward

Ethics and the Media
This book is a comprehensive introduction to media ethics and an explor-
ation of how it must change to adapt to today’s media revolution. Using
an ethical framework for the new “mixed media” ethics – taking in the
global, interactive media produced by both citizens and professionals –
Stephen J. A. Ward discusses the ethical issues which occur in both main-
stream and non-mainstream media, from newspapers and broadcast to
social media users and bloggers. He redefines traditional conceptions of
journalistic truth-seeking, objectivity, and minimizing harm, and exam-
ines the responsible use of images in an image-saturated public sphere. He
also draws the contours of a future media ethics for the “new mainstream
media” and puts forward cosmopolitan principles for a global media eth-
ics. His book will be invaluable for all students of media and for others
who are interested in media ethics.
stephen j. a. ward is the James E. Burgess Professor and Director of the
Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He
is the author of The Invention of Journalism Ethics: The Path to Objectivity and
Beyond (2006) and Global Journalism Ethics (2010), and the co-editor of Media
Ethics Beyond Borders: A Global Perspective (2010).
Cambridge Applied Ethics
Titles published in this series:
ETHICS AND BUSINESS Kevin Gibson
ETHICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT Dale Jamieson
ETHICS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE John Kleinig
ETHICS AND ANIMALS Lori Gruen
ETHICS AND THE MEDIA Stephen J. A. Ward
Ethics and the Media
An Introduction
STEPHEN J. A. WARD
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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© Cambridge University Press 2011
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
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no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2011
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Ward, Stephen J. A. (Stephen John Anthony), 1951–
Ethics and the media : an introduction / Stephen J. A. Ward.
p. cm. – (Cambridge applied ethics)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-521-88964-3 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-0-521-71816-5 (pbk.)
1. Mass media–Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. II. Series.
P94.W37 2011
175--dc23 2011026079
ISBN 978-0-521-88964-3 Hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-71816-5 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in
this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
To my students, sources of inspiration and hope

Contents
Introduction: the need for a new ethics page 1
The context of media ethics 2
The structure of the book 3
The meaning of media 5
1 What is ethics? 7
The ethical sphere 8
Theorizing about ethics 16
2 Approaches to media ethics 52
Understanding media ethics 54
Approaches to media ethics 59
Essentials for ethical reasoning 68
Applying aims and principles 76
3 Free press and deliberative democracy 88
Freedom and the turn to ethics 90
The need for ethics 99
Journalism and democracy 103
4 Reaffirming truth and objectivity 118
Truth and objectivity in journalism 119
Rise and decline of objectivity 127
Responding to the challenge 134
Pragmatic truth and objectivity 143
5 Media harm and offense 161
Harm in ethics 161
Contending principles 164
Restraining principles for media 170
Media harm: cases 185
Media offense 197
vii
viii Contents
6 The new media ethics 207
Ethical revolutions 209
Where are we today? 212
Shape of a future ethics 216
Toward an open ethics 223
7 Global media ethics 245
Going global 245
Ethical foundations 250
Application to journalism 257
Building global media ethics 266
Bibliography 272
Index 285
Introduction: the need
for a new ethics
Ethics, as a field of study and as a practice, should confront the deep, nor-
mative questions of its time.
Reflection on ethics is carried out by humans embedded in historical
eras and in distinct cultures. All societies, no matter how rigid or trad-
itional, face the future. They cannot avoid struggling with new problems
and new ethical questions. Ethics, therefore, is not a static set of rules. It
is a necessary human activity – the attempt by individuals and societies to
respond to quandaries created by changing conditions, unexpected issues,
and new ways of thinking.
Ethics at its best is reflective engagement with urgent problems, in light
of where we have been and where we hope to be tomorrow. Reflective
engagement can occur in any area of society. For example, developments
in genetic knowledge call for new ethical thinking in the sciences of life.
Is it morally permissible to use genetic knowledge to “design” babies, or
to force citizens to be tested for genes linked to debilitating diseases? In
recent times our concern about the impact of human activity on nature
and on non-human forms of life has prompted the development of envir-
onmental ethics and the ethics of animal welfare.
Engagement involves the reinterpretation of norms, the invention of
principles, and the development of new and responsible practices. This
work of invention and reinterpretation gains urgency when basic princi-
ples come under question and when society, in whole or in part, begins
a difficult transition to a new era. Today, news media find themselves in
the middle of such a transition. New forms of communication are trans-
forming journalism and its ethics. Media ethics requires urgent reflect-
ive engagement because basic values are under question and new issues
challenge traditional approaches to responsible journalism. Accordingly,
this book is structured around how media ethics should address these
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