Mass Media Ethics Exam 2

Surveillance Capitalism

An economic system where consumers are the product being bought and sold, and behavioral data is scraped from online activity (searches, posts, purchases) to create and sell predictions of future behavior.

Philosophical Components of Privacy

The two main components are (1) control over information about the self and (2) control over the context in which that information is understood.

Privacy vs. Secrecy

Privacy is concerned with determining who will obtain access to information, whereas Secrecy is blocking information intentionally to prevent others from learning or possessing it.

Circles of Intimacy

A model where privacy is defined as control over who has access to your various social circles, ranging from the innermost 'You' to 'You and Casual Acquaintances'.

Invasion of Privacy

Occurs when an individual's control over their own circles of intimacy is violated.

Discretion

The intuitive ability to discern what is and is not intrusive and injurious. It acts as the critical filter when a source voluntarily reveals private information to a reporter.

Right to Know

A legal term often associated with open-meeting and open-record statutes, granting the public (and journalists) a legal right to access information.

Need to Know

A philosophical concept representing information citizens require to function effectively in a democratic society. This is the most ethically compelling justification for disclosure.

Want to Know

Information that speaks merely to public curiosity but lacks a moral or functional necessity; it's the least ethically compelling rationale.

Informational Inequity (Privacy Harm)

A potential harm when privacy is invaded, involving situations like governments or corporations amassing large amounts of data about individuals without their knowledge or consent.

Encroachment on Moral Autonomy (Privacy Harm)

A harm to the diminishing capacity to shape one's moral life and choices without the critical gaze and interference of others.

Rawls's Veil of Ignorance

A thought experiment where deliberation starts from an 'original position' as equals, stripped of personal attributes, in order to lay aside bias and ensure fairness.

Loyalty as a Virtue

Focuses on the virtuous individual acting ethically, but often struggles because its expression is difficult to universalize.

Loyalty as a Philosophical Principle

Suggests that even an unvirtuous person could use reason to make an ethical, loyal choice.

Epistemic Partiality

The concept that loyalty allows a person to be loyal to one group or idea, often at the expense of others.

Conflicts of Interest (Loyalty)

The inevitable clash resulting from the multiple loyalties professionals must maintain.

Josiah Royce's Definition of Loyalty

Defined as a social act and the 'willing and practical and thoroughgoing devotion of a person to a cause'.

Critique of Royce: Simple Moral Guide

The simple adoption of loyalty as a moral principle may lead to allegiance to troubling causes.

Royce's 'Worthy Cause' Standard

A worthy cause should harmonize with the loyalties of others within the community.

Loyalty: "Do Not Betray Me"

An approach that foregrounds the costs of abandoning one set of loyalties to adopt another, making social groups primary.

Loyalty: "Be One With Me"

An approach that helps people create an identity, but can lead to engaging in unethical acts without autonomous reflection.

Journalist's Distinct Responsibility to Truth

They have a greater responsibility to tell the truth than members of most professions.

Journalist's Obligation to Involvement

They carry a greater obligation to foster political involvement than the average person.

The Potter Box Steps (Sequence)

(1) Understanding the Facts of the Case, (2) Outlining the Values, (3) Application of Philosophical Principles, and (4) Articulation of Loyalties.

Social Justice

A branch of philosophy that connects individual acts to their societal consequences.

Foundational Assumptions of Social Justice

It requires understanding that justice is comparative and relational.

Enlightenment Approach: Maximization of Welfare

This approach examines justice by focusing on achieving the greatest possible collective welfare.

Enlightenment Approach: Freedom and Rights

This approach determines justice by focusing on freedom and individual rights.

Enlightenment Approach: Connection to Virtues

A third approach that connects justice to the cultivation and promotion of the virtues.

Amartya Sen's Theory of Justice

Requires accepting the 'inescapable plurality of competing principles,' which encourages re-examination of existing arrangements and allows for partial solutions.

Racial Bias in Crime Reporting

Crime reporting often perpetuates racial stereotypes and biases.

Poverty Misconception

The popular misconception that poverty is a mainly urban problem; in total numbers, there are more Caucasians in poverty than any other racial group.

Communitarianism

A political philosophy that seeks ethical guidance for society-wide issues and invests Aristotle's 'polis' (community) with moral weight.

Communitarian Goal for Media

To empower individual citizens to act in ways that promote political discussion, debate, and change.

Separation of Roles on Social Media

Social media is seemingly separating the role of the information provider/collector from information verification.

Excellent Journalism Criterion (Context)

Journalists should ask: Does the story provide the context needed to make sense of what is happening?

Michael Sandel's Core Critique of Markets

Economic language has crowded out moral thinking, sometimes changing our conception of what it means to have a good life with authentic flourishing.

Social Responsibility Theory Flaw

The theory is flawed because it gives little attention to modern media economics involving multinational corporations and chain ownership.

The Power Elite

A ruling class in democratic society of which the mass media became a part because it is predominantly corporate-owned and publicly traded.

Hyper-Competition

The condition where supply substantially exceeds demand so that a large percentage of market producers operate at a financial loss.

Commodity

News is classified this way because a consumer cannot judge its value until after they've consumed it and invested their time.

Market-Driven Newsroom Goal

To provide news that could entice more readers or viewers, rather than prioritizing informing the public.

Stockholder Theory

Corporations have a single, overriding, and legally binding promise to increase the share price for those who buy stock.

Stakeholder Theory

A framework positing that some businesses (like media) have a public responsibility extending beyond individual stockholders, placing citizens and community at the center.

Media Consolidation/Conglomeration

The concentration of ownership of media outlets into the hands of a small number of large corporations.

Vertical Integration

A corporate strategy to create diverse income sources by controlling the product from production to distribution, making things more predictable for stockholders.

Newspaper Penny Press Revolution

Revolutionizing funding by lowering the price to attract mass readership, which led to reliance on advertising revenue.

New Media Challenge to Publishers

Facebook and Google compete with publishers for advertising content, reaping most of the monetary rewards for content publishers pay to produce.

Consequence of Legacy Media Cutbacks

The overall effect is lost news for the consumer, as good journalism is expensive and subscriptions/ad revenues are declining.

Philosophical Components of Ethics

Ethics is the rational process concerned with answering: (1) What duties do I have, and to whom do I owe them? and (2) What values are reflected by the duties I've assumed?

Communitarianism (Ch. 3 Privacy)

Links privacy and community as complementary forces, asserting that responsibility for keeping things private is shared between the individual and the community.

Disinformation

Content that is knowingly provided as incorrect or wrong and distributed (often through social media/internet) to gain power.

Golden Mean (Aristotle)

Virtue lies at the mean between the extremes of excess and deficiency (e.g., courage between foolhardiness and cowardice).

Categorical Imperative (Kant)

********* the maxim of your action were to become a universal law, and treat humanity always as an end and never merely as a means.

Utilitarianism (Mill)

An act's moral justification is determined by its consequences, aiming for the greatest good for the greatest number.

Prima Facie Duties (Ross)

Duties that are correct because of the nature of the act itself (e.g., fidelity, reparation, beneficence).

Moral Development: Conventional Level (Kohlberg)

The level where individuals are primarily motivated by society's expectations and living up to their perceived role (Stages 3 and 4).

Moral Development: Postconventional Level (Kohlberg)

The highest level where individuals are guided by self-selected universal ethical principles (e.g., equality of human rights, dignity).

Ethical News Value: Tenacity

Knowing when a story is important enough to require additional personal and institutional effort, demanding journalists provide depth of coverage.

Ethical News Value: Equity

Seeking justice for all involved and treating all sources and subjects equally.