A framework is introduced consisting of five baselines of ethical justification for professional persuasive communications. The models provide a conceptual structure by which to identify and analyze the ethical reasoning, underlying justifications, motivations, and decision making in professional persuasive practices. Although the emphasis of this article is on defining the constructs, their ethical soundness as justification for persuasive practices and their usefulness in establishing direction and methodologies for research in persuasive also are addressed.

This study gathered preliminary baseline data on the moral development of journalists using the Defining Issues Test, an instrument based on Kohlberg's 6 stages. Results show that a sample of journalists scored 4th highest among professionals tested using the DIT. The journalists ranked behind seminarians/philosophers, medical students, and physicians but above dental students, nurses, graduate students, undergraduate college students, veterinary students, and adults in general. No significant differences were found between various groups of journalists, including men and women, and broadcast (...) and print journalists. The journalists in the study scored significantly higher on the 3 journalism-specific dilemmas than on 3 nonjournalism dilemmas. (shrink)

The neo-Aristotelian virtue theory of Philippa Foot is presented here as an alternative framework that is arguably more useful than deontological approaches and that relies less on the assertions of moral claims about the intrinsic goodness of foundational principles. Instead, this project focuses more on cultivating a true ethic; that is, a set of tools and propositions to enable individuals to negotiate inevitable conflicts among moral values and challenges posed by cultural contexts and technology use. Foot's ?natural normativity? connects the (...) conditions of human flourishing and objective reasons for acting morally, providing a framework for a digital media ethic to address three critical categories: virtuality and authenticity, privacy and autonomy, and exchange and discourse. (shrink)

Recent advances in moral psychology and applications of virtue science have created promising opportunities to refine theories of media practice and ethical principles. This article sets forth the theoretical foundation for a model of virtuous action among media exemplars that is multidimensional, inductive, and informed by these developments. The model draws on a range of psycho-social assessment tools to explore five key dimensions of virtuous behavior: story of the self, personality, integration of morality into the self, moral ecology, and moral (...) skills and knowledge. The model's structure is designed to strengthen the empirical basis used to make normative and predictive claims about media practice. (shrink)

The current revival of communitarian thinking, alongside public journalism as its journalistic counterpart, is one response to thefractures that characterize modern society. I identifyfive symptoms/causes ofthefractured world. I then show, briefly, some contrasts between the communitarian ideal and that of liberal democracy. The conclusion calls for journalists to undertake the task of reworking our basic conceptual framework in ways that avoid the twin extreme, and naive anthropologies of individualism and collectivism in favor o f a communitarian view based upon acknowledgment (...) of human interdependence. (shrink)

This article explores the relation between the government and the media in post-apartheid South Africa. An overview is given of key developments and tensions between the government and the media in the first 10 years of democracy and the ethical frameworks underlying the respective positions. An overview of the debate between the so-called "national interest" and the "public interest" is given, and linked to normative ethical frameworks of libertarianism vis-a-vis communitarianism. A mean between the 2 is suggested in the form (...) of mutualism, whereas the necessity for conceptual clarification in debating the relation between the government and the media is emphasized. (shrink)

Despite its attraction for journalists and others, communitarianism corrupts a liberal democracy and denies a community the ability to make reason-based decisions by becoming highly rule oriented and static with self-protection as the driving motive. Civic or public journalism that retains its pluralistic characteristics may still encourage moral development of individuals, particularly journalists, to assure a dynamic society. Communitarian journalism, however, devalues truth in favor of community loyalty and conformity at the expense of individual moral development.

This article is a chronological narrative analysis of two local newspapers' coverage of a controwsial community issue over a 4 year period. The analysis places the newspapers' coverage in the context of social responsibility theory and argues that even the smallest local newspapers have an ethical responsibility not only to uphold basic precepts of good journalism, such as balance, fairness, and accuracy, but to make an extra effort to provide socially responsible coverage that gives voice to multiple perspectives in their (...) communities. (shrink)

In this nationwide study of American and Canadian journalists, I found that their moral and ethical values are solidly connected to the Judeo-Christian tradition, even among those who do not claim to be religiously oriented. This study shows that religious values are imbedded deeply, if not always consciously, in the moral and ethical values of journalists and that journalists of varying religious orientations tend to endorse a core group of moral and ethical principles at the heart of the religious heritage (...) of the United States and Canada. However, journalists have expanded their definition of what religion coverage means in an increasingly diverse and secular society, and few want to connect their professional values only with Christian teaching. (shrink)

Although recent scholarship in diverse professional areas shows an ongoing interest in the application of agape - the New Testament's term for the highest order of self-giving love - no published work has made an in-depth exploration of agape in relation to journalism. This article explores what agape can contribute to media theory and practice. After explaining what distinguishes agape from other concepts of altruism and how agape can complement other approaches to compassion or minimizing harm, the analysis turns to (...) three questions raised by applying agape to mainstream journalism: (a) Does agape have a place for self-interest? (b) What does agape imply for notions of journalistic neutrality? (c) Can agape speak to journalists who don't accept its religious roots? Agape provides a test case for the application of religiously based ethical perspectives to journalism. (shrink)

With lost credibility, ratings, and circulation, journalism faces a crisis of conscience. One answer is participatory community journalism; journalists become activists on behalfofthe process of self-government. A veteran journalist and author of Agents of Power, Altschull questions the press's arrogance, its faith in objectivity, and its unvarying insistence on its First Amendment rights, and asks instead that the public interest be put ahead of the maximization of profit, that media help to mediate public issues, and that the public be allowed (...) to play a bigger role in the news decision making process. (shrink)

The application of 2 sets of ethical guidelines in this article leads to the conclusion that readers and viewers can know what they need to know about capital punishment without television or still pictures of the actual execution. The press can maximize compassion for stakeholders and minimize emotional suffering, while at the same time fulfilling its truthtelling duties.

Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Volume 27, Issue 3, Page 206-210, July-September.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, journalism in the United States changed. Journalistic norms of objectivity and distance opened to a participatory mode of reporting. A communitarian journalism emerged in which journalists became "at one" with their subjects as they lived the story they were reporting. Chiara Lubich of Italy presents a philosophical foundation for this journalistic approach, proposing "unity" as the ethic that should guide mass media communicators. In this essay I review Lubich's moral perspective and consider (...) its implications for media ethics. (shrink)

Media scholars have used ethical theory extensively to evaluate journalists' own ethical practices. However, they have given little attention to how ethical theory could be used to assess the way journalists cover the ethics of others. In light of the important role that medicine and other professions play in the lives of individuals and society, this article proposes a framework to evaluate news coverage of ethical issues that involve professions and in society. After making the case for the need for (...) this framework, the article describes the framework itself and the rationale for each component. Finally, ideas for applying the framework in future research are suggested. (shrink)

In this article I use a case study of 3 newspaper pieces about assisted suicide and euthanasia to show how journalists can use analysis and commentary to highlight the ethical dimension of an important public issue. Using an approach grounded in ethical theory, I examine how these pieces-from the Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, and New York Times-shed light on ethical issues including matters of duties and consequences. It is argued that an analytical approach that openly frames a topic (...) as having a moral dimension is particularly appropriate for ethics coverage in light of the value-laden nature of writing about ethics. (shrink)

Journalists in many Afiican countries have long been caught between differing ideals i n their relationship between press and government. Two models viefor dominance-the western, libertarian and development journalism models. This article uses Walzer's (1983) theory of distributive justice to illuminate the ethical significance of this debate. A t issue is political power. A case study of the 1996 proposed press law i n Kenya illustrates the ethical arguments mounted for each press model and how the arguments are marshaled not (...) necessarily for moral purposes but to gain political advantage. Finally, a viable third alternative avoids a false dilemma between the libertarian and development journalism models. Communitarianism preserves the independence from government SO central to the libertarian model while providing a basis for activist journalism. (shrink)

It is remarkable how many journalists embrace the principles of public journalism but fail to recognize the importance of applying those principles to journalism itself. While the press stands ready to expand the opportunities for public debate by inviting everyone to participate, journalists typically exempt themselves by declining invitations others are expected to accept. I f indeed the press plays a vitally important role in creating and maintaining the conditions for selfgovernance, as journalists claim whenever they raise the banner of (...) public journalism, the press needs to assume responsibility for-and invite commenta y on-the quality of its performance and the integrity of its practices. In short, the press needs to recognize itself as a distinctively public institution bound by the same standards of accountability expected of other public institutions. (shrink)

The four guiding principles of the Society of Professional Journalists express ethical tension that can be viewed as a conflict between the metaphysical concepts of the "One" and the "Many." Historically, the most satisfying resolution of this tension has been the doctrine of the Trinity. When studied as a philosophical construct, this model, drawn from religion, can demonstrate a way to resolve the tension inherent in good journalism. This study reduces this resolution to grids that can be used for plotting (...) ethical journalism. (shrink)

ABSTRACTTwenty-five years ago, Christians, Ferré, and Fackler’s Good News: Social Ethics and the Press proposed the then-radical notion of communitarianism as an alternative moral philosophy for media ethics. This article evaluates communitarianism as a media ethic, but not only according to the work already done by Christians and colleagues. Instead, this article extends the communitarian ideal by connecting it, in a new way, to notions espoused a half century earlier by Tetsuro Watsuji, a Japanese philosopher whose prescriptions of ethics in (...) Rinrigaku in 1937 have been largely ignored by media scholars. (shrink)

The past several decades have seen an increase in the concern for the treatment of human participants in research. Similarly, the ways journalists treat their subjects and sources have generated much concern. The ethics of these 2 endeavors share much in common, because both must use people in various ways to reach their goals. The well-developed guidelines in research designed to protect research participants' autonomy, to guard against needless deception, and to recognize the special needs of vulnerable research participants have (...) direct application to journalism. They can provide easy reference heuristics for journalists to use in making ethical decisions. (shrink)

Cross-cultural interviewing can pose challenges for journalists, given potential differences in language, word choice, volume, body posture, and group dynamics. This article explores some of the complexities of cross-cultural interviews with the dual aim of heightening awareness of ethical considerations for journalists who conduct them and of discussing ethical principles that may help in guiding their work. This article attempts to move the discussion of cross-cultural interviews beyond traditional Western ethics. Eastern moral philosophy and ideals of trust and human relations (...) similar to, but predating the work of contemporary Western communitarians are considered. The authors' ethnographic study of MLB's “Nippon Summer”—the influx of Japanese players in 2007—and analysis of articles resulting from press coverage of those players serve as a framework for discussing ethical considerations at play in cross-cultural journalism, when, for example, West writes East. (shrink)

The debate over news ombudsmen remains at a seemingly irreconcilable impasse, and less relevant as journalism shifts away from print and traditional newsroom structures in the new-media age. There are fewer than 30 ombudsmen at U.S. media outlets today, according to the Organization of News Ombudsmen (Ombudsmen, 2010). We argue that the greatest failure of ombudsmanship is that it does not go far enough in giving voice and visibility to the ombudsman's work, including interacting with community. Media news outlets can (...) best serve the public trust by fulfilling the journalistic mission of civic transformation through empowerment advocated by Christians, Ferre, and Fackler (1993). As the vanguard of the communitarian approach of ?person-in-community,? the ideal ombudsman would be just that: a person in the community. The ethical goal of ombudsmanship should be not to promote an apologist from within the ranks but rather to facilitate a community conversation. We propose integrating the ideal ombudsman (which we redefine and rename as the ethics examiner) with the best practices of successful news councils (hereafter called media councils in a return to their original name and to encompass a broader universe of information outlets). (shrink)

This study investigates the portrayal of five female journalists on the Aaron Sorkin television series Sports Night. The women were depicted as acting unprofessionally, displaying motherly qualities, choosing their personal lives over work, being deferential to men for ethical decisions, and showing a lack of sports knowledge compared to the male characters. The researchers use social responsibility theory to suggest why these portrayals were ethically problematic.

The aim of this article is to analyse the opinions of journalists and citizens regarding the interdependence of public media and the official sources of political power in Spain. Little research of this kind has been done in the Spanish context. Journalists and citizens representing four Spanish regions?Catalonia, Madrid, the Basque Country, and Andalusia?were questioned about their opinions regarding this interdependency. The methodology used in this research is based on quantitative techniques (surveys) and qualitative techniques (in-depth interviews and focus groups). (...) The results prove that the opinions of journalists differ from those of citizens for the majority of questions asked. Citizens are more inclined to follow directions from official sources than are journalists. The geographical background of the respondents proved to be a significant factor in terms of variation in answers. Journalists from Catalonia and the Basque country are much more reluctant to follow government directives on issues of counter terrorism or in cases of national emergency. (shrink)

Media organizations are simultaneously key elements of an effective democracy and, for the most part, commercial entities seeking success in the market. They play an essential role in the formation of public opinion and the influence on personal choices. Yet most of them are commercial enterprises seeking readers or viewers, advertising, favorable regulatory decisions for their media, and other assets. This creates some intrinsic difficulties and produces some sharp tensions within media ethics. In this article, we examine such tensions - (...) in theory and practice. We then consider the feasibility of introducing an ethics regime to the media industry - a regime that would be effective in a deregulated environment in protecting public interest and social responsibility. In the article, we also outline a rationale and a methodology for the institutionalization of an acceptable and workable media ethics regime that aims to protect the integrity of the industry in a future of undoubtedly increasing commercial pressure. (shrink)

Advocacy publications, particularly those focused on the reporting and analysis of religious news and theology, have proliferated throughout American history. Today some 3,000 religious periodicals continue to vie for the eyes and hearts of American readers. Like their mainstream journalistic counterparts, advocacy publications over the years have formed professional associations that provide ongoing seminars, workshops, and professional standards for conduct and mutual accountability such as codes of ethics.

ABSTRACTThe starting point of this article is Clifford Christians’ argument that peace journalism presumes a liberal-contractual self and that it must transform its philosophy of the human, where “the liberal self be exorcised and replaced by a relational self.” In this article, the author discusses what the relational self is, how differently it can be conceptualized from the liberal-contractual self, and what difference it would make in terms of conflict reporting to presume a relational self instead of a liberal-contractual self.