In a seamlessly wired world of television, computers, and BlackBerrys, where does ethics fit in? To address that question, Living Ethics calls for a moral convergence to complement the technological one. Identifying principles that apply across media platforms, Michael Bugeja has created a
thorough and well-researched work that avoids the prescriptive language used by many texts; instead, he encourages critical thinking through examples that build, challenge, and enhance readers' value systems.
While many ethics texts focus almost exclusively on journalistic ethics, Living Ethics emphasizes unifying principles that collapse and transcend the boundaries of a wide variety of media sources--including newspapers, magazines, radio, television, public relations, photojournalism, advertising, and
other forms of traditional and online mass communication. As readers will discover, the circumstances of ethical issues may vary, but the moral processes used to resolve them are basically the same.
Resolutely practical, Living Ethics is written in a clear and cogent style that helps readers:
* Understand unifying principles from historical, philosophical, and political perspectives
* Grasp the utility of principles that engage audiences and clients while respecting the diverse cultures in an increasingly global media environment
* Explore moral convergence through the eyes of more than 100 practitioners at major newsrooms, agencies, and organizations
* Examine ethical issues visually through more than 20 photos and illustrations
* Develop a set of principles to guide their careers across amultitude of platforms
In a seamlessly wired world of television, computers, and BlackBerrys, where does ethics fit in? To address that question, Living Ethics calls for a moral convergence to complement the technological one. Identifying principles that apply across media platforms, Michael Bugeja has created a
thorough and well-researched work that avoids the prescriptive language used by many texts; instead, he encourages critical thinking through examples that build, challenge, and enhance readers' value systems.
While many ethics texts focus almost exclusively on journalistic ethics, Living Ethics emphasizes unifying principles that collapse and transcend the boundaries of a wide variety of media sources--including newspapers, magazines, radio, television, public relations, photojournalism, advertising, and
other forms of traditional and online mass communication. As readers will discover, the circumstances of ethical issues may vary, but the moral processes used to resolve them are basically the same.
Resolutely practical, Living Ethics is written in a clear and cogent style that helps readers:
* Understand unifying principles from historical, philosophical, and political perspectives
* Grasp the utility of principles that engage audiences and clients while respecting the diverse cultures in an increasingly global media environment
* Explore moral convergence through the eyes of more than 100 practitioners at major newsrooms, agencies, and organizations
* Examine ethical issues visually through more than 20 photos and illustrations
* Develop a set of principles to guide their careers across amultitude of platforms
Preface
Introduction
Part One: Building Your Ethical Base
1. Influence
Basic Concepts
Basic Intentions
Basic Influences
The Influence of History
The Influence of Language
Illustration: "Trigger Words"
Balance and Perception
Illustration: "The Fine Line of Objectivity"
Photograph: "Father Holding Son, Who Nearly Drowned," Jared
Lazarus
Journal Exercise--"Deprogramming Your Influences"
2. Responsibility
Basic Concepts
Honoring Accountability
Role Models, Mentors, Icons and Idols
Broader Responsibilities
Photograph: "Editors at the Mailbag," Highlights for Children
Moral Relativism and Absolutes
First Principles
Journal Exercise--"You're Absolutely Courageous"
3. Truth
Fonts of Truth
Objectivity as a Process
Truthful Platforms
Truthful Disclosures
Visual Judgment Calls
Photograph: "Grieving Family and Friends," Morris L. Manning
Photograph: "Flight Nurse," Dennis Chamberlin
Photograph: "Marine Funeral," Dennis Chamberlin
Photograph: "Couple Kissing," Dennis Chamberlin
Photograph: "Magdalena," Dennis Chamberlin
Photograph: "Lanier," Dennis Chamberlin
A Word about Satire
Editorial Cartoon: "An Army of One," Jim Borgman
Editorial Cartoon: "NASA," Carmen Cerra
Illustration: "Bunny Bio(TM)--Behind the Fur, Energizer
Bunny(TM)"
Higher Concepts
Journal Exercise--"Your Highs, Lows and Turning Points"
Part Two: Testing Your Ethical Base
4. Falsehood
Basic Concepts
Categories and Consequences
A Word About Quote-Making
Visual Lies
Photo/Illustration: "Crossing the Line in Photojournalism," Diane
Bugeja
Questionable Lies
Journal Exercise--"Just How Truthful Are You?"
5. Manipulation
Basic Concepts
Brief History of the Hoax
Categories and Consequences
Defusing the Hoax
Hoaxbusting Methods
Journal Exercise--"Your Biases, Fears and Convictions"
6. Temptation
Dealing with Temptation
A Plagiarism Primer
Detecting Plagiarism
Dealing With Conflicts of Interest
New Media Conflicts
Compassionate Conflicts
Religious and Familial Conflicts
Editorial vs. Advertising Conflicts
Diversity Conflicts
Visual Conflicts
Photograph: "Brian," John Kaplan
Journal Exercise--"Your Own Conflict Resolution"
7. Bias
Exploring Bias
Exploring Stereotypes
Dealing with Bias
Illustration: "Anticipated vs. Received Message"
Journal Exercise--"Taking Stock: Your Personal Bias Barometer"
Part Three: Enhancing Your Ethical Base
8. Fairness
The Fairness Process
Fairness-Related Concepts
Corrections and apologies
Discretion
Journal Exercise--"Do You or Others Play Fair or Foul?"
9. Power
Power Bases
Power of the Press vs. Profits
Censorship vs. Self-Censorship
Taste vs. Free Expression
Illustration: "Child's Subliminal Ad"
Empowerment
Two Cases of Sexual Harassment
Compassion
Photograph: "A Policeman's Torment," John Kaplan
Photograph: "Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina," AP photo/Vincent
Laforet
Essay: "Ode to New Orleans," by Charlotte Porter
Photograph: "Roadside Memorial," by Diane Bugeja
Photograph: "Final Moments," by Therese Frare
Essay: "Lasting Moments," by Therese Frare
Journal Exercise--"Your Path to Empowerment"
10. Value Systems
Personal and Professional Standards
Creating Codes
Photograph: "A Sampling of Codes"
Journal Exercise--"Your Own Code of Ethics"
Bibliography
Index
Michael Bugeja is Professor and Director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. The recipient of the 2009 Clifford G. Christians Award for Research in Media Ethics (for Living Ethics), Bugeja is the author of twenty books, including Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age (OUP, 2005).
"This phosphorescent book puts communication ethics on a new order
of magnitude. Living Ethics is destined to become a classic in the
tradition of Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics, Jacques Ellul's
Propaganda, and Jean Baudrillard's Simulations. Brilliant in
content and spectacular in research, a master teacher and public
intellectual are at work here. Establishing ethics discourse across
media platforms is exactly what the field
needs in a technological age and we'll never be able to think about
ethics in static terms again. With formalism discredited and
relativism simplistic, Living Ethics is an ingenious
alternative."--Clifford Christians, College of
Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"This is an important book--a comprehensive look at media ethics,
drawing on vital and pervasive concepts, and blessedly relevant to
multiple media venues, not simply publishing, electronic media or
digital media. Big ideas about responsibility, fairness, bias,
temptation are connected to specific examples, some powerful, some
homely, but all useful. This is at once a treatise for serious
readers and a text for students and professionals in a world
where
convergence is not only conceptual, but also part of the lives of
people who work across platforms too. A very useful contribution to
the literature, building on and greatly amplifying an earlier
edition."--Everette E. Dennis, Distinguished Felix E. Larkin
Professor of Media & Entertainment Industries, Fordham Graduate
School of Business
"Living Ethics is full of wisdom and insight, featuring both the
philosophical foundations that underpin ethics and real-life
examples about how to apply ethics in our morally converged world.
Talk about relevant! Rather than hypotheticals, the book is filled
with real stories about plagiarism, graphic video, satire, sexual
harassment, photojournalism, and direct quotes. It's the best
ethics book in communications."--Paul Parsons, Elon
University
"The best thing about this book is that it refuses to accept the
old adage about leading a horse to water but not being able to make
him drink. This book believes students can be taught both to
understand ethics and to act ethically, and then outlines a way to
do just that."--Gregory Lisby, Georgia State University
"[Bugeja] wants us to experience how it feels to have a guilty
conscience, not just think about it in terms of an abstract
philosophical framework. Such an emphasis has a place in the
classroom because it calls for personal accountability."--Robin
Riley, New Mexico State University
"This phosphorescent book puts communication ethics on a new order
of magnitude. Living Ethics is destined to become a classic in the
tradition of Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics, Jacques Ellul's
Propaganda, and Jean Baudrillard's Simulations. Brilliant in
content and spectacular in research, a master teacher and public
intellectual are at work here. Establishing ethics discourse across
media platforms is exactly what the field
needs in a technological age and we'll never be able to think about
ethics in static terms again. With formalism discredited and
relativism simplistic, Living Ethics is an ingenious
alternative."--Clifford Christians, College of
Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"This is an important book--a comprehensive look at media ethics,
drawing on vital and pervasive concepts, and blessedly relevant to
multiple media venues, not simply publishing, electronic media or
digital media. Big ideas about responsibility, fairness, bias,
temptation are connected to specific examples, some powerful, some
homely, but all useful. This is at once a treatise for serious
readers and a text for students and professionals in a world
where
convergence is not only conceptual, but also part of the lives of
people who work across platforms too. A very useful contribution to
the literature, building on and greatly amplifying an earlier
edition."--Everette E. Dennis, Distinguished Felix E. Larkin
Professor of Media & Entertainment Industries, Fordham Graduate
School of Business
"Living Ethics is full of wisdom and insight, featuring both the
philosophical foundations that underpin ethics and real-life
examples about how to apply ethics in our morally converged world.
Talk about relevant! Rather than hypotheticals, the book is filled
with real stories about plagiarism, graphic video, satire, sexual
harassment, photojournalism, and direct quotes. It's the best
ethics book in communications."--Paul Parsons, Elon
University
"The best thing about this book is that it refuses to accept the
old adage about leading a horse to water but not being able to make
him drink. This book believes students can be taught both to
understand ethics and to act ethically, and then outlines a way to
do just that."--Gregory Lisby, Georgia State University
"[Bugeja] wants us to experience how it feels to have a guilty
conscience, not just think about it in terms of an abstract
philosophical framework. Such an emphasis has a place in the
classroom because it calls for personal accountability."--Robin
Riley, New Mexico State University
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