MEJO 141 Final Exam

What decision model are you following if you first consult your "gut feeling" on a situation?

Bok's Model

1. Consult conscience
2. Seek advice on alternatives
3. Public discussion with those involved.

Briefly describe in your own words what an ethical dilemma is compared to a right-vs-wrong issue.

An ethical dilemma involves a situation with two equally right or equally wrong answers that cannot both be chosen. An ethical dilemma requires careful moral reasoning to come to a decision, while right vs. wrong issues do not. Right vs. wrong issues are merely moral temptations.

What is ventilation?

Ventilation is asking those you trust for their perspectives on an issue.

What step in the TARES process might these questions be best used to evaluate?

"Is there parity in this situation between persuader and persuadee in terms of information, understanding, insight, capacity, and experience? If not, have accommodations been made to adjust for the disparities and to level the playing field?

Equity

Truthfulness
Authenticity
Respect
Equity
Social responsibility

President Trump has attacked the Robert Mueller investigation into Russian interference in US elections. What level of behavior is this, per Kholberg, and briefly why?

It is pre-conventional behavior because Trump is avoiding punishment by expressing his discontent in the investigation, as he is fearful he may be caught.

Pre-conventional:
1. Punishment avoidance
2. Pleasure seeking

Conventional:
3. Good boy/good girl
4. Fulfilling duties and upholding laws

Post-conventional:
5. Sense of democracy, social contract
6. Universal morality, self-selection

What is the term used when US journalists attempt to tell stories occurring in foreign countries in cultural terms that a US audience can understand?

Domesticating

What must you first determine about an action before being able to accurately assess its moral development level (per Kohlberg)?

Motive

Describe what Kant might say regarding whether or not to follow ethical rues at each of Kohlberg's three levels of moral development. Name the three levels as part of your explanation.

1. Pre-conventional: "I will follow the rules because I don't want to get into trouble"
2. Conventional: "I will follow the rules because I said I would when I took this job position"
3. Post-conventional: "Categorical imperatives contribute to the good of society."

Is your future occupation a profession? Explain briefly what characteristics (or lack of them) lead you to answer yes or no. Don't forget to specify what you presently believe that occupation will be.

My future occupation as an advertiser is a profession because I will be governed to uphold a code of ethics, while remaining honest and practicing self-regulation.

In Kohlberg's Heintz Dilemma, a man cannot afford to buy a life saving drug for his wife. Kohlberg says that at his highest level of moral development (stage 6) the man would follow self chosen ethical principles and place the highest value on justice, dignity and equality. In this case, he might steal the drug but alert the authorities he has done it. He will have to face a penalty, but he will save a human life.

Carol Gilligan suggests someone at the highest level of moral development in her theory, the Ethics of Care, is less likely to make this exact choice. How might Gilligan suggest someone at the highest level handle the same dilemma?

Stage 3 in the Ethics of Care may suggest that the man raises money to purchase the drug through fundraising efforts. His wife will still be saved, but no one will get hurt; he will not face a penalty (principle of nonviolence)

Milton suggested competing notions of the truth should be allowed to coexist (marketplace of ideas) with the ultimate truth ultimately emerging. His assertions foreshadowed the philosophy called _______ from which modern journalism borrows its notion or truth and is the basis for the ideal of objectivity.

Enlightenment

With what theory is "original position" associated?

Rawl's Veil of Ignorance

According to the text, the proper initial order of the Potter's Box is:

Facts, values, principles, loyalties

On a cable news program, the anchor asks a US Senator if she will drop whatever health coverage she now has and enroll in a plan she is proposing for a wide swath of people in the country: This question would best reflect:

Light of day test

Ethics codes can be valuable in mass communication occupations for all the reasons below except:

They are mandatory for everyone in a profession to follow, thus ensuring uniformity.

They ARE valuable because...
They are universally applicable (can be applied to all with the same profession)
They can discourage government intervention.
They reinforce the occupation's status as a profession.

Your news organization avoids covering issues related to guns and gun violence, except when a shooting occurs. This would be best described as what approach?

Event-oriented

A popular local minister has been arrested in a prostitution sting. In deciding whether to print his name, you consult multiple ethical theories and philosophies. From the descriptions below, name the pair of philosophers you have most closely based your decision on.

You decide that you have an overriding loyalty to your readers and that should serve as your guiding principle; also, you have weighed your responsibility to tell the truth vs. doing harm to the minister and decided that telling the truth wins out.

Royce; Ross

A popular local minister has been arrested in a prostitution sting. In deciding whether to print his name, you consult multiple ethical theories and philosophies. From the descriptions below, name the pair of philosophers you have most closely based your decision on.

You try to imagine what decision you would make if you were not the night editor, but could be any stakeholder in your community; you decide that since the paper's policy is to not make exceptions in regards to people charged with crimes, you should print his name.

Rawls; Kant

You're the night editor at a local newspaper. Close to deadline there is a horrific car accident in which two people are killed. Your night cops reporter quickly gathers enough facts for a story (the police say the vehicle was going twice the speed limit), and your photographer comes in with photos. The photo he recommends shows the vehicle is totally destroyed and emergency workers hovering over what appears to be a body covered by a sheet. It certainly tells a tale of speed and its consequences.

Ultimately, you reject publishing the photo because you believe publication will not do enough good to make up for the high level of angst it will cause family members; also, you think it's not in the best interest of your community to "normalize" the showing of such graphic images.

Mill; Communitarianism

T/F: Loyalties are an important tool in ethical decision making because they rarely conflict, making decisions easy, consistent and defendable.

False

T/F: Advertisers often use a model in which they describe a problem in a commercial (that the viewer might have bad breath, for example), then offer a solution to resolve it (the sponsor's mouth wash, for example). This is an example of applying a "balancing theory."

True

T/F: Correspondence theory is closely linked to enlightenment.

True

T/F: Because advertising involves persuasion -- getting consumers to buy goods and services -- "truth" is considered relative and thus is not a value mentioned in the industry's code of ethics.

False

Cognitive Dissonance

The idea that a person can't achieve happiness when attitude, information and actions are not in harmony

Enlightenment

Truth is verifiable, replicable and universal.

Veil of Ignorance

Put aside prejudices and vested interests, and try to look at a situation from different view points.

Pragmatism

Truth can depend on both who is gathering the information, and the method in which the information is obtained and presented.

Ethics of Caring

Puts relationships at the center of ethical decision making

Ethical/Unethical: Cropping an image

Ethical

Ethical/Unethical: Dodging and burning

Ethical within reason

Ethical/Unethical: Staging

Unethical

Ethical/Unethical: Manipulation

Unethical

Ethical/Unethical: Posing

Unethical

A television station is planning to air a story based on a new survey of UNC students on the subject of sexual harassment on campus. They send out a crew to take film of students walking around the pit area on campus. The station shows that film while the news anchor -- not shown on the screen -- reads the script about the survey findings.

Obviously, it is not known if any of the students filmed walking around the pit have taken the survey, or have experienced sexual harassment. What would this technique be called

Eyewash

Using stock photos or unrelated photos or footage.

In photography, dodging refers to:

Lightening areas of a photo

Burning: darkening areas of a photo

Advertising or promotional material that makes broad exaggerated or boastful statements about a product or service that are subjective (or a matter of opinion), rather than objective (something that is measurable), and that which no reasonable person would presume to be literally true.

Puffery

Jack and Jill are both vice presidents of a major corporation. In a sales meeting, Jack interrupts Jill to correct her about a point she is making. Jill feels Jack is "mansplaining" -- that is: explaining in a condescending or patronizing manner because Jill is female. Afterward, she tells him so. Jack thinks Jill is overreacting. This could be interpreted as:

Standpoint Theory

T/F: A media organization, and the communities it serves, can greatly benefit by emphasizing diversity in both hiring and leadership. However, per lecture, diversity cannot be considered an ethical issue because it is an internal issue within the organization.

False

Which two of these common-law claims regarding invasion of privacy are recognized in North Carolina? (that is, someone can sue over and be awarded damages)

Intrusion upon a person's seclusion or solitude, such as invading one's home or seizing their diaries.

Misappropriation of a person's likeness for personal advantage.

Distinguish the differences between: Need to know, right to know, and want to know.

Right to know: information that you have legal access to. The law
Open meetings, open records.

Need to know: based on philosophical perspective, information that would help public understand. Information that allows us to function effectively day to day.

Want to know: least ethical, information you want based on curiosity

Assume you were to draw your own "Circle of Intimacy" diagram based on philosopher Louis Hedges's work, what would be in the inner most circle, and what would be outside your last circle?

Inner: you
Outer: public

Legal scholar Jeffrey Rosen coined a phrase to describe the destruction of privacy (some might say the invasion of privacy) in the modern era.

Hint: The textbook explains that it is related to a concept in Jewish law described as "the injury caused by seeing" or "the injury caused by being seen." Name the phrase.

Unwanted gaze

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but on probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Where is this from?

The Fourth Amendment

Secrecy is blocking information intentionally to prevent others from learning, possessing or sharing it; it ensures that information is kept from any public viewing; privacy, in contrast, is concerned with what?

Privacy is concerned with determining who has access to/control of certain information.

Secrecy: blocking info intentionally to prevent others from learning, possessing, using or revealing it." (p. 137). Kept from anyone's view.

Privacy: determining who will have access to your information. Privacy, then, gets balanced with other interests. "Invasion of privacy occurs when your control over your circles of intimacy is wrestled from you by people or institutions." p. 139. e.g. - names of rape victims

Per the 60 minutes story, The Data Brokers, firms are collecting data about you by tracking your (and everyone else's) web browsing habits. Can they sell your data and identify you to buyers of that data?

Yes

T/F: Per Rawls, if there was an airline crash and you were a news reporter trying to decide if you should photograph and interview people, you could gather people with diverse points of view behind the veil. But it is not necessary that you work to reach a consensus that everyone can agree on.

True

Let's say you're a news reporter and you have written a story to be posted on your newspaper's website that deals with mental health. You want a photo to go with the story, so you find one from Getty Images, a company that provides stock photos, of a man looking very pensive (in deep reflection) that you think fits the story. This is an example of:

Eyewash

Per the text, philosophers should operate thusly: "Don't deceive a trusting audience with manipulated reality, and don't offend an unsuspecting audience with your gritty reality." The author suggests this is a version of what?

Kant's Categorical Imperative

Standpoint theory

Knowledge stems from societal positions

Gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, social class, economic class and other factors can all limit and/or influence your understanding of societal relationships.

Can lead you to view the world, and events, differently than others.

While there are commonalities within various groups, that doesn't mean everyone from a particular group sees things the same. Your standpoint is, by definition, unique.

Advertising puffery

advertising material that makes broad exaggerated or boastful statements about a product or service

AP Code of Ethics for Photojournalists

The content of a photograph must not be altered in photoshop or by any other means...

Minor adjustments are acceptable including: cloning, cropping, dodging and burning, conversion into grayscale, minor color adjustments.

Red eye removal is not allowed.

Staging

Setting up or choreographing the scene of a photo. Sometimes meant to demonstrate or re-enact a scene of past action.

Differs from posing in that staged photos are passed off as being true but are not

Manipulation

Transforming or altering a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. Can include photoshop.

Cropping

The removal of the outer parts of an image to improve framing.

Eyewash

Use of stock photos or file footage to illustrate news stories, photos used regardless of the context of the original photograph and sometimes without consent of the subject.

Freedom of Information Act

Gives you the right to access information from the federal government. Law that keeps citizens in the know about the government.

Aggregation and Curation

To aggregate is to bring things together in one place, to gather a number of different items, to create a collection.

(Google and The Huffington Post: aggregation is used)

Aggregation and curation are techniques of using content from other sources to provide content for your audience.

Aggregation: automated
Curation: manual

Thin line between aggregation and theft.

Aggregation Ethics

Always link to the original source.

Always include clear attribution, tell the reader in the text where the information is from.

Always use quotation marks when you copy and paste someone else's text.

Add value to the material -- add original analysis, background, summarize and compare reports, etc.

Do not simply copy info