Lecture 5: Ethics in Journalism

This lecture on Ethics in the field of journalism was of particular interest to me. As an introductory excersise, we were asked to complete the form below, outlining our view on what is unethical, and what is dis-tasteful.

I felt a little lost at first, as I wasn’t completely sure of the definitions of, (and exact difference between) ‘unethical’ and ‘dis-tasteful’. Luckily, the internet knows all. According to Dictionary.com, ‘unethical’ means: lacking moral principles; unwilling to adhere to proper rules of conduct, while ‘dis-tasteful’ is defined as “unpleasant, offensive, or causing dislike”. With that cleared up, I can now discuss the lecture.

Firstly, however, I have to say that I found it very interesting and a little disturbing that a business can deliberately overstep the taste boundaries, in order to collect free publicity when the advert is not removed. This was the case with a Windsor Smith advert (which can be seen below), which received $4.3 million in free advertising.

The lecture focused on separating three ethical theories. The following points were of particular interest to me.

The First – A Deontological Approach

-        Based on rules, principles and duties

-        By following said rules, principles and duties, you will be doing the “ethically right” thing

-        All ethics codes are deontological

-        For journalists, these rules, principles and duties are set out in the AJA code of ethics (as seen below)

-        “Rights” as such, are not included

The Second – A Consequentialist Approach

-        Based on getting “the right outcome”

-        Idea of “never mind how we got there” is significant

-        The ends justify the means

-        The greatest good for the greatest amount of people

-        The use of this approach by the News of the World newspapers was noted

The Third – Virtue Ethics

-        “Goodness” (or happiness), comes from having good habits of character

-        These habits are “virtues” such as courage, justice, temperance, prudence or trust

-        These habits of character are the “golden mean” of behaviour

-        Developed as a result of experience