Media Ethics- Exam 2

The Need for Privacy

both personal and societal needs for privacy exist.

Personal: why they need privacy?

• innate need

• we need privacy to develop an individual sense of self

• for growth, reflection

• dignity

Societal: why they need privacy

• society needs privacy as a shield against the power of the state

• it is necessary component of democracy and the foundation for freedom, individual dignity and autonomy

Louis W. Hodges

• without some degree of privacy civilized life would be impossible

Privacy as a Legal Construct:

1. Intrusion upon a person’s seclusion or solitude

2. Public disclosure of embarrassing, private facts

3. Publicity that places a person in false light.

4. Misappropriation of a person’s name or likeness for personal advantage.

Privacy as an Ethical Construct (philosophical views: consider privacy harms when infringed)

• Informational harm: ID Theft

• Informational inequality: firms and, government gather information on you without your knowledge or consent

• Informational injustice: sharing information about you without proper context

• Encroachment on moral autonomy: make our own moral choices without interference or observation of others.

Privacy as an Ethical Construct (communitarian thinking)

• Links privacy and community

• The community/larger society benefits from maintaining individual privacy

Secrecy

• blocking information intentionally to prevent others from learning, possessing, using, or revealing it.

• ensures that information is kept from any public view

• can overlap with privacy but is not identical

• privacy doesn’t require that the information never reach public view but dictates who has control over it

Circles of Intimacy:Philosopher Louis W. Hodges (A working concept of privacy for journalists and other professionals)

• Privacy can be considered control over who has access to your various circles of intimacy.

• Privacy doesn’t require that the information never reach public view, but dictates who has control over it.

• Invasion of privacy occurs when your control over your circles is wrestled from you by people or institutions.

• For media, the key is to know when to cross into a circle

The RIGHT to Know

• A legal term that is often associated with openmeeting and open-recorded statuses

• Journalists have a legal right to the same information that other members of the public may obtain

The NEED to Know

• Rooted in philosophy.

• The media must provide information that will allow citizens to go about their daily lives in society, regardless of political outlook.

• Requires tenacity and responsibility in journalism

most ethically compelling argument

The WANT to Know

• Speaks to the curiosity in all of us.

• Consider blogs, YouTube or social media posts.

• We want to know lots of things about lots of people.

least ethically compelling argument

The Balancing Act

We need a framework for an open and ethical dialogue; one that as much as possible excludes bias and promotes equality of all participants.

John Rawls

• Before a community can make an ethical decision, it must consider the option behind a veil of ignorance.

• Behind the veil, everyone functions as equals in an original position.

• None of the participants know what their status will be when they emerge

The Veil of Ignorance

Outcomes:

• Arguments are free of bias.

• Individual is maximized.

• Weaker parties are protected

The Veil of Ignorance

It is important to note that consensus is not required behind the veil.

• Facilitates ethical discussions.

• Reflective Equilibrium

• Balances the liberties of stakeholders while protecting the weaker party.

Plato and Socrate: Def of loyalty

Loyalty= service to God

Socrates (philosopher)

Socrates was willing to die rather than go against the teachings and philosophies of his God.

His final act was one of loyalty more so than one specifically of defiance.

Josiah Royce (philosopher)

The Philosophy of Loyalty, 1908

Loyalty could be single guiding ethical principle

Loyalty: social act of choice; can be learned or honed; promotes self-realization

◦ Habits of character result in ethical action

Thomas Hobbes ( philosophers)

God is not necessarily the focus of all loyalty.

Social nature of loyalty: people’s moral and/or political obligations depend on agreement (social contract) between or among the people involved. Leviathon, 1651

Competing loyalties: notion that we may have various loyalties that are in competition

Loyalty may have limits

G.P Fletcher

Fletcher suggests that there are two distinct and extreme approaches to loyalty

-do not betray me. be one with me.

Four types of Media and Loyalty

• shared humanity:

• professional practice:

• employment:

• Media’s role in public life

Shared humanity:

respect, honesty, compassion, fairness

Professional practice:

information, entertainment, fulfill audience’s needs

Employment:

keep promises/ agreements, use resources wisely, work for humanity

Media’s role in public life:

be an example of transparency; give voice to the voiceless

Reciprocity:

: loyalty should not work against the interest of either party.

Two loyalties to always maintain

1. Loyalty to TRUTH

2. Loyalty to HUMANITY

Decision Making Model: Ralph Potters Box

oUnderstand the FACTS

oOutline the inherent VALUES

oApply relevant philosophical PRINCIPLES

oArticulate a LOYALTY

Ralph Potters Box

1. Definition: define all the facts and/or issues that arose in the situation

2. Value: Identify the values in operation that drive or aggravate the situation

3. Principles: select a moral principle to apply to the situation

4. Loyalties: show active understanding of your own loyalties and why you have them

The Fourth Estate

Media organizations are expected to act as watchdogs on government

-Sir Edmund Burke, in a speech to Britain’s House of Commons in the late 1700s, first called the media “the fourth estate” as a check against the other three: the legislative, executive and judicial.

Views of Politics in a Democracy:

Hamilton, Madison, Jay (Federalist Papers):

-Unfettered communication is needed for citizens to find truth

-Press is obligated to provide it

-Citizens are obligated to pursue it

Views of Politics in a Democracy: present tense

Citizens have an obligation to read such information.

The press has an obligation to provide it.

Roles of Media in a Democracy

Radical role

Monitorial Role

Facilitative Role

Collaborative role

Radical role

Media provides alternate vision to current political/social situation

Monitorial role

The watchdog function of monitoring institutions and government

The role citizens most often associate with the watchdog role of the media

Facilitative role

Facilitating governing, like during elections (guidedog)

media’s primary function is to provide citizens with information that will allow them to make informed political decisions

Collaborative role

Promoting or sharing government information, like weather forecasts

Advertising

g (not news) is the leading source of information for most people during campaigns.

Comparative Ads

Contrast candidate positions on specific issues

• Seen as information rich and appropriate by voters

Attack Ads

• Personal and negative

• Often seen as the only route to victory for candidates at all levels

Political ads

should be factual and rational.

Elections

It’s a “violation of democratic ethics” (Haiman, 1958) to use emotional arguments to get people to set aside reason.

Social Responsibility Theory

It is the responsibility of journalists to evaluate political advertising as legitimate news and to hold candidates publicly accountable for their advertising.

character

Important for media to provide political information that includes information about

Leaders and Character

Just because information is available about a politician or their family, is it ethical to report it?

• For journalists, campaign assignments hold the opportunity for personal prestige

• Professional achievement for White House correspondents

“Front runners”

are treated differently

• Closer media scrutiny, seldom about the real issues

Political Character

the intersection of personality and public performance within cultural and historical contexts.

•Bok:

When an unequal power relationship is involved, unethical acts are sometimes justified.

Political Character

• journalists must weigh the harm done to others, particularly politicians’ families.

• done in a larger, proper context for meaning

• linked to public/political behavior

• on a “need to know” basis that furthers political discourse

Discretion in Political Journalism

The practical wisdom not to reveal everything one is told, even if the facts or events would be of casual interest to many.

Political Communication

how can we determine when information has political relevance?

Political scientist Bruce A. Williams:4-part Test:

1. The information is useful.

2. The information is sufficient.

3. The information is trustworthy.

4. The audience is identified.

Social Justice

A branch of philosophy and political philosophy that

• connects individual acts to their societal consequences

• connects the societal understanding to a range of possible individual actions

• places community on an equal footing with the individual

comparative

Not just about the individual, but all others as well

relational

Not just about one decision. Spans across many others.

Philosopher John Rawls

Justice is the first virtue of social institutions,

just as truth is of systems of thought.

Branches of Social Justice Theory

Welfare Maximization

Individual Freedom Rights

Virtues

Welfare Maximization

• Utilitarianism - greatest good for the most people

Individual Freedom Rights

Accessible and available to all

Virtues

• Upholds virtues – a just society affirms virtues

• Also Social Choice/Behavior

Philosopher Amartya Sen

• Borrows from Social Choice Theory

• Rationally comparing alternatives

• A plurality of competing principles, reasoned in public

• Allows for partial solutions and multiple interpretations

• Behavior is the goal of justice

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum

• She proposes 10 capabilities

• many focusing on communication needed to flourish

• i.e., emotions, affiliation, play and creation, control over one’s environment

• encourages experimentation and creativity

• inherent in media, provided it is used in the service of the moral imagination

SPJ Code of Ethics for Journalists

Seek the Truth:

• Tell “the stories of diversity and magnitude of the human experience.”

• “Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear.

Diversity of voices helps

• the byline

• the bottom line

socially responsible view of the media

• suggests that journalists have a duty to promote community and the individuals within it.

• The media companies and professionals need to become advocates for the politically homeless.

• A socially responsible press must stand for “justice for the powerless.”

Communitarianism

• Justice is the ethical linchpin of journalistic decision-making.

Keith Woods,

Poynter Institute, suggests writers ask these questions if they want to create

Excellent Journalism:

1. Does it provide context?

2. Does it embrace complexity?

3. Are the voices of people heard?

4. Is there authenticity?

Robert Maynard’s 5 Fault lines:

• Race and ethnicity

• Class

• Gender and sexual orientation

• Geography

• Generation