Media and Ethics

What is Ethics? And why is it important when thinking about media? (Industry perspective – Ethics in Western Media).

Ethics can be defined as a set of fundamental principles and basic concepts of decent human conduct. It includes the study of universal values and the subject areas in its spectrum, such as the concern for health, safety and wellbeing, natural environment, conformity with the law of land, natural or human rights and the essential equality of both men and women. Concern for the natural environment has been a developing aspect of ethics in recent years (Business dictionary, 2013).

Over the years, media has turned into a crucial element of our daily lives, all over the world. The fast paced growth of new media and its impacts are generally inevitable, mainly due to the presence of the internet, digital, social and interactive media. Once a news article or press release is aired, it is watched by millions of viewers all across the globe. This will surely lead to consequences, regardless of how big, small, negative or positive they may be. The evolution of technology has changed the world significantly. This has in turn, facilitated in building up a relationship with the media and allows interacting with a much wider audience than ever before (Khodarahmi E, 2009).

As the various different modes of communication evolve with time, it opens doors to a number of new possibilities for news reporting and helps broaden the scope of media influence. Considering these developments, media ethics has turned into an increasingly vital issue in today’s society. Apart from newspaper articles, radio broadcasting and television news, people are now also exposed to digital media. The mass media is an intrinsic part our daily lives. It can be interesting to see what exactly drives the powerful Western media. The factors vary from the financial goals of a large media firm, to seek the truth, social responsibility and government mandates (Redwin B, 2009).

According to three professors of journalism; Theodore Peterson, Fred Siebert and Wilbur Schramm, there are four different models of the media. They are Authoritarian, Libertarian, Communist and Social Responsibility. Out of the four, two of the models that are most relevant to the Western media today are the Libertarian system and the social responsibility system. The latter’s roots can be traced back to the mid-twentieth century society and revolves around ethics in the media. However, it should be noted that it has always existed as an ideal. The former is more widespread today, and by nature threatens media ethics (Siebert F et al, 1963).

In the concept of social responsibility, the media is driven to benefit the public. It expects honest and accurate updates of current events, a diverse and open debate on public issues and the capabilities of journalists to answer society’s need for the truth. Media ethics is automatic in this model, as the press has the freedom to cater to its objectives for the public, as opposed to advertisers or special interest groups. Furthermore, the social responsibility model does not allow news reporting to be dependent on groups that could encourage unethical practices or bias, in exchange for monetary benefits (Soley L, 2002).

Some of the best examples of Western Media outlets that fall into the social responsibility category are NPR News from the United States and BBC World from the United Kingdom. Both networks rely extensively on their public audience and not advertisers, for compensation. As a result, they are not worried about corporate interests. Instead of merely trying to entertain their audience, both News corporations focus on education. In order to satisfy and cater the needs of the public, they have to respect media ethics and emphasise on social responsibility (Keeble R, n.d.).

On the other hand, the Libertarian model is much more popular than the social responsibility model in the Western media. The freedom of speech that the press has in this system is unlimited, as it is not constricted by media ethics, society or by the government. However, news reporting in the Libertarian system is quite restricted, as it is not a platform to serve collages of different voices, opinions and ideas. Even though it is not completely biased and limited, as the type of media found in authoritarian societies, that cater to governments interests, it is still restricted by its financial dependence (Siebert F et al, 1963).

Western media outlets, specifically television stations, have to design their news reporting in such a way that, it supports and does not conflict with their financial supporters will, as they heavily rely on advertisers for money. Also, due to the deregulation movement of the past fifteen years, the FCC and congress have granted more freedom within the telecommunications field. This has resulted in loosening rules and regulations that were once designed to ensure ethics and social responsibility in the media. A large number of Western media outlets in the United states are currently a part of many media conglomerates, the type of firms that have to focus on increasing their profit margins annually (Redwin B, 2009).

Over the years, the Libertarian model has resulted in a number of issues from media bias to political and corporate censorship, as it is free market based. Stories that would normally be considered to be important are not always reported, and are substituted with more entertaining news. An example of this would be some of the major world issues, such as the conflicts in the Arab World, which is seldom covered in the Western media, while media outlets become inundated with scandalous news such as the MTV Video Music Awards over sexualized raunchy moments. Moreover, the Western media tends to often only cover political candidates that can afford advertisements, thus limited the coverage of various kinds of political movements. This is a result of the non requirement of social responsibility (China Daily, 2013).

As a result, these tendencies can lead to an overflow of entertaining information and a lack of media ethics, but not essentially the most important information. Many voices will remain unheard, environmental issues are covered erratically and major humanitarian crisis’ can possibly go unnoticed for several years. However, with new opportunities that the internet offers for knowledge and information to be shared and spread, the media continues to change (Siebert F et al, 1963).

As the public is not dependent on mass media sources for news anymore, the media system of the future might not fall into either the Libertarian or social responsibility model. Only the future can tell what role media ethics will play in the new system.

References

Business Dictionary (2013) Ethics, Available: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ethics.html (11th September 2013).

China Daily (2013) Media ethics key to society, Available: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2013-02/20/content_16238554.htm (11th September 2013).

Keeble, R (n.d.) What is News?: How the World 's Biggest Humanitarian Crisis Goes Uncovered, Available: http://www.mediaethicsmagazine.com/index.php/analysis-commentary/3746654-what-is-news-how-the-worlds-biggest-humanitarian-crisis-goes-uncovered (11th September 2013).

Khodarahmi, E (2009) Media Relations. Disaster prevention and management. 18 (5), pp535-540

Redwin, B (2009) Media Ethics Today, Available: http://suite101.com/a/media-ethics-today-a151237 (11th September 2013).

Siebert, F et al (1963) four theories of the press. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.

Soley, R (2002) Censorship, Inc. The corporate threat to free speech in the United States. New York: Monthly Review Press.

References: Business Dictionary (2013) Ethics, Available: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ethics.html (11th September 2013). China Daily (2013) Media ethics key to society, Available: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2013-02/20/content_16238554.htm (11th September 2013). Keeble, R (n.d.) What is News?: How the World 's Biggest Humanitarian Crisis Goes Uncovered, Available: http://www.mediaethicsmagazine.com/index.php/analysis-commentary/3746654-what-is-news-how-the-worlds-biggest-humanitarian-crisis-goes-uncovered (11th September 2013). Khodarahmi, E (2009) Media Relations. Disaster prevention and management. 18 (5), pp535-540 Redwin, B (2009) Media Ethics Today, Available: http://suite101.com/a/media-ethics-today-a151237 (11th September 2013). Siebert, F et al (1963) four theories of the press. Illinois: University of Illinois Press. Soley, R (2002) Censorship, Inc. The corporate threat to free speech in the United States. New York: Monthly Review Press.