Media Ethics: Truthfulness, Fairness, and Standards of Decency Chapter 14

The Images of September 11, 2001 AP photographer Richard Drew’s experience Why take the pictures? “I photograph what happened, and, in turn, I record and document history, and this is what happened. This is history.” – Richard Drew

Ethical Principles and Decision Making Morals An individual’s code of behavior based on religious or philosophical principles. Morals define right and wrong in ways that may or may not be rational. Ethics A rational way of deciding what is good for individuals or society. A way to choose between competing moral principles when there is not a clear right or wrong answer.

Aristotle: Virtue and the Golden Mean Golden Mean Moral virtue is the appropriate location between two extremes. David L. Martinson says journalists take overly simplistic view of Golden Mean, assume it values compromise rather than finding virtue.

Kant: The Categorical Imperative Categorical imperative A moral obligation “we should act in a way in which we would be willing to have everyone else act.” (Do onto others…...) Do not treat people as a means to reach an end. Cannot justify behavior based on desirable outcomes

John Stuart Mill: The Principle of Utility Principle of Utility Ethical behavior arises from that which will provide the greatest good for the greatest number. “An act’s rightness is a desirable end.” – J.S. Mill

John Rawls: The Veil of Ignorance Veil of ignorance Justice comes from making decisions that maximize liberty for all people and without considering which outcome will give us personally the biggest benefit.

Hutchins Commission: Social Responsibility Ethics The press has a responsibility to give voice to the public and to society. The free press may not live up to its obligations to the public because of its need to serve its owners.

The Bok Model for Ethical Decision Making Consult your conscience Seek alternatives Hold an imaginary ethical dialogue with all involved

Truthfulness Is the speaker/writer attempting to deceive people? Is the statement itself true or false? Is the person trying to “make them believe what we ourselves do not believe”? Are journalists providing “the truth about the fact”?

Truthfulness Deliberate deception Stephen Glass Lying about who you are Jose Antonio Vargas Is deception by reporters ever OK?

Corporate Conflict of Interest How do you report on organizations your parent company owns? News organizations and professional sports teams Problem of co-mingling of resources and loyalties

Sensationalism Sensationalism News coverage that panders to audiences with lurid and highly emotional stories of crime, sex, violence, and celebrities Tabloid laundering When respectable media report on what tabloids are covering News of the World phone hacking scandal killed paper, hurt News Corp.

Going Too Far: The News of the World Hacking Scandal News of the World was the biggest circulating British tabloid newspaper for many years. Reporters for the paper hacked into the phone of a murdered thirteen-year-old girl to listen to her voice mail. Former editors and reporters were arrested or sent to jail over the scandal. The fact that News of the World was owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation made the scandal a big story in the press.

When and How Do You Apologize? Portland Press Herald received backlash for publishing story about the local observance of Ramadan on September 11. The paper apologized, but the apology ended up causing additional controversy.

There Is No “They”: The Sago Mine Disaster 13 miners were trapped deep underground. 1 was found dead early in the evening. At about midnight rumors spread that remaining 12 miners were alive. Papers went to press reporting the good news. In reality, only one miner was alive.

There Is No “They”: The Sago Mine Disaster What happened? The problem of midnight deadlines News organizations were too comfortable passing on unconfirmed rumors. Reporters were looking for a “miracle story” where everyone would be OK. Reporters needed to be much more careful verifying updates and sources.

Photography How much is too much? What is an acceptable level of photo manipulation? Should viewers know to what degree a photo has been altered? How many would understand? Does intentionally making changes in a photo change the viewer’s response to the image?

Enforcing Ethics Ombudsman / reader’s representative; may also be known as the Public Editor Codes of ethics Rules and standards to guide the company and its employees

Advertising How important is it for advertising claims to be true? Factual claims about drugs and food held to higher standard Claims of being “best” need to be documented. “The only claims we’d make ought to be sufficiently humorous, exaggerated, and far-fetched that no one will take them seriously.” – Michael Dweck, advertising executive

Advertising Advertisers may pull ads from publications/stations in response to critical or offensive stories. Magazine editors warn advertisers about controversial articles. Advertisers promote development of television programs they would like to advertise on.

Ethics in Public Relations Hill & Knowlton did PR work for Kuwaiti government organization prior to 1991 Gulf War. Agency arranged to have young Kuwaiti women testify about Iraqi atrocities before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. One young woman was actually daughter of ambassador, stories told were highly suspect.

Ethics in Public Relations Should H&K have investigated woman’s claims before arranging her testimony? Who should the PR agency have first loyalty to: the client or the public?

Attacks on Women Through Online Media #Gamergate – An attack on a female video game developer framed as a critique on ethics in video game journalism. Social Justice Warriors #SJW – Derogatory term for people who express progressive views, especially people promoting women in geek culture. Women are frequently threatened with sexual violence; private photos hacked and shared. Harassment extends to women outside of geek/pop culture.