Week 2 of my series of lectures on journalism ethics in 1st semester 2010

1. 3/7/2010
Ethical Fault Lines
Contradictions and the
political economy of ethics
Fault Lines
fault line: (geol.) a planar fracture in which the rock on one
side of the fracture has moved with respect to the rock on
the other side
the term fault zone is used when referring to the zone of
complex deformation that is associated with the fault plane
he creation and behaviour of faults is controlled by the
relative motion of rocks on either side of the fault surface
[wikipedia]
Fault Lines in Journalism
fault line: (journ.) an ethical fracture in which the accepted
rule or action on one side is contradicted by an alternative
rule or action
the term fault zone refers to the zone of complex
contradictions that is associated with the social relations of
journalism practice
the creation and behaviour of ethical fault lines is controlled
by the relative motion of the ideas, ethics and practices of
the newsroom in constant friction with the surface of the
world around it
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2. 3/7/2010
New fault line:
Digital Dilemmas
Web 2.0 has created a
new set of ethical fault
lines:
Existential questions
Digitalization represents a new Who is a journalist?
technical paradigm that
reorganizes in a wide What is news today?
scale the Political Economy of
Communication Information and
Culture, as it allows a complex
Applied questions
convergence that makes
consolidated markets unstable,
How do you manage
contesting hegemonic
Positions
Facebook and social
C sar Bolano 2009 networking?
Arguments and Cases
Ethical dilemmas can occur
in spectacular single
moments
Watergate
Jayson Blair
Others take longer to
Fault lines are the tremors that
often shake individual journalists develop
and/or their organisations to their
core as they grapple with ethical Responsible v. Free
dilemmas
Hirst & Patching (2007, p.3) The ‘Information
Revolution’
Dialectic: paradox, conflict
contradiction & change
The dialectic – as a way of thinking:
To ‘make sense of the connection between the
material world and consciousness’
The dialectic – as the trajectory of change:
The ‘mutual constitution’ of social, economic,
cultural and political forces
The ‘disintegration and reintegration of the
modern world’ (Mosco 1996, p.5)
‘Flux is king in journalism.
Dynamic thinking and dialogue is essential to
journalistic progress’ (Merrill 1989, p.8)
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3. 3/7/2010
The movement of the dialectic
Ideas and social forces are A thesis is
in constant motion challenged by its
opposite
– a moment of balance is Thesis (antinome or
not stasis –
action action antithesis)
there is constant
disequilibrium The struggle is
momentarily
Change is Synthesis Antithesis resolved, but
caused by the Merrill talks of a then erupts
actions of “triadic movement” again
people – the dialectic in
reacting to journalism Each new
the world action action thesis
around them (synthesis) is
challenged in
Institutions and
turn
structures Antithesis Synthesis
contain
action
competing social
forces
Why political economy?
If, to consider ethics we need to
understand:
ideas and social forces
the actions of people
institutions and structures …
How do we know which ideas, people,
social forces, institutions and structures
are important?
How do we understand their interactions
– mutual constitution?
Mutual Constitution
POLITICAL ECONOMY MUTUAL CONSTITUTION
…the study of the social relations individuals (journalists), institutions
particularly the power relations, (media firms, civil society), structures
that mutually constitute the (law, economics) and processes (news
production, distribution, and gathering, regulation) are in constantly
exchange of resources, such as evolving relationships.
communication. (Mosco 1996, pp6-9)
(Mosco 2004, p.6)
COMBINED & UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT
The dialectic is not a smooth one-to-one operation.
Power relationships are unequal and subject to ebbs and flows
Thus, the process of mutual constitution – the impact of one event or action on
another social actor – is uneven.
For example: legal and ethical approaches to a particular dilemma or paradox do
not necessarily occur at the same time, nor do they necessarily match-up
THE ETHICO-LEGAL PARADOX
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4. 3/7/2010
Manufacturing Consent
The propaganda model
The mass media serve as a system for
communicating messages and symbols to the
general populace.
It is their function to amuse, entertain, and
inform, and to inculcate individuals with the
values, beliefs, and codes of behaviour that
will integrate them into the institutional
structures of the larger society.
In a world of concentrated wealth and major
conflicts of class interest, to fulfil this role
requires systematic propaganda.
Propaganda must be an ethical issue
"...a way of coming to understand
the world without illusion.“
James Peck, The Chomsky Reader Is it conscious, or unconscious?
Mosco’s political economy
historical analysis, the
present arises out of the
past
understanding the broader
social system
a moral philosophy and a
study of social values
intervention and action in
the world (praxis)
What political economy
believes
Media systems are social structures
The media system is an important
factor in social systems
Media systems help to create and
reproduce systems of belief
Structure and policy impacts on the
types of content produced
Systems are shaped by market
structures, technologies, government
policies and the culture of news work
(what journalists do; how and why)
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5. 3/7/2010
The problem of journalism
Separation of editorial and
commercial functions
How real is it in practice?
The incorporation of “certain key
values” into codes of ethics
Which values?
Are they the right ones?
How a society can construct a Dependence on official sources
media system that will generate stenographic journalism
something approximating
democratic journalism is a compromise with power
fundamental problem for a free susceptible to spin
society.
Soft news over hard
(McChesney 2008, p.25)
The limit of media freedom
No credible scholarly analysis of
journalism posits that journalists
have the decisive power to
determine what is and is not news
and how it should be covered.
(McChesney 2008, p.58)
EPMU Code of ethics – Preamble
Respect for truth and the public's
right to information are over-riding
principles for all journalists. In
pursuance of these principles,
journalists commit themselves to
ethical and professional standards.
A code to overcome the
paradox?
Censorship is largely self-censorship by
reporters who adjust to the climate of
practice at their media organisation.
Tully, Intro (2008, p.5)
…values in the news are rarely explicit
…each story implicitly expresses a value
about what is desirable
(Tully, Intro (2008, p.6)
Self-censorship can be linked to
ownership and control
Values are often those of the
systemic consensus
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6. 3/7/2010
A code provides a set of
values for journalists
report and interpret the news with
scrupulous honesty
not allow personal interests to
influence them
use fair and honest means to
obtain news
identify themselves and their
employers
respect private grief and personal
privacy
These are individual values – collectively applied – are they enough?
For this week’s tutorials
Read Intro Ch1 – Tully on the values of
journalism
Hirst & Patching (2007) Ch. 1 & Ch. 2
The objectivity norm in American
journalism (Schudson, 2001)
Professional confidence and situational
ethics (Berkowitz & Limor 2003)
Next week
Lecture:
codes of ethics and ethics case studies
methods of ethical decision-making
Reading:
Price (2007) Ch. 23
Hirst & Patching (2007) Ch. 10
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