Words: 2015
Media Responsibilities Responsibilities of the Medal David Rodriguez Introduction to Ethics & social Responsibility socio Benjamin Wright July 29, 2013 Responsibilities of the Medal One of the unique things that set our country apart from others is our constitution; it allows us to enjoy the freedom that many others are not allowed to experience In the countries they live in. The constitution allows us the right to freedom of speech. However, as citizens we have responsibilities that we must adhere to for that freedom, as does the media which s a crucial Influence In our lives.
While media Is helpful in keeping us informed they too have responsibilities to the viewers because It Is still a business which not only relays local happenings, but also worldwide events through television, newspapers, and even radio, still many viewers are skeptical of what is believable and what is not when it comes to relying on many different sources. In presenting some of the ethical problems In media responsibility we will look at the one of the classical theories of utilitarianism that can resolve the problem along with the perspective of the emotive theory.
The term Medal derives from the word Medium which is translated as, a meaner or agency for communicating or diffusing information, news. Etc, to the public Comedies,” n. D. ). The question of media responsibility is the focus more today than It has been in the past with critics and pundits continuously talking about rights and responsibilities (Chance, 1997). When It comes to comparing our media with that of other countries for example African media (Kaka, 2012) we are bound by fairness, honesty, accuracy, and accountability that make up the responsibilities to freedom.
Media carries some social responsibility, but ethically it has the responsibility of reporting the truth without any bias or misreporting, although today the media sometimes goes beyond Its boundaries. Over the past sixty-five years the Supreme Court has consistently valued the political and educational roles of the media (Chance, 1997). Our courts state that media cannot knowingly lie, which defines media responsibility In terms to truth telling and stewardship. When it comes to conservatives they are more inclined to require responsible behavior as to where liberals concentrate on valuing freedom.
Medal responsibility Is separated from media accountability by the courts because they are unwilling to hold the media accountable, but at the same time defining what Is considered appropriate behavior (Chance, 1997). Included In this paper about media responsibilities I will be discussing how to increase media coverage by understanding what the responsibilities of the media are (Brooks, 1999). It will talk about elaborating the delivery of accurate, unbiased and timely Information to the public relations with great story ideas that are used to attract and capture the interest of an audience.
There are hundreds of competitors who can be equally helpful or persistently brutal. The magazine New African, Honorable Kaka the author discusses how his country is suffering, and the media blackout with the western media having no interest in exposing how its financial institutions have been facilitating corruption in Africa (Kaka, 2012). Silencing of the local media is making it difficult for the issues to be addressed. Media refuses to scrutinize the status quo of those responsible for many of the problems.
The silencing of the local media is worrying, but is accepted that they have lost their major role in society (Kaka, 2012). In the Los Angles Times, an article was published on the lawmakers along with parent groups praising the media on violence findings and how the television industry has not lived up to its responsibility to children (Leeds, 2001). Discussion in the article addresses the effects that media violence can have harmful effects on children’s health. Massive audiences drawn to television, film and video games could result in higher risks of violence as noted by researchers.
Media has the responsibility to report results of certain events so that these types of behavior do to occur again. In recent events we have seen courtroom cases televised, and several news groups covering what they call “gavel to gavel” coverage. With internet sources are starting to phase out actual print publication there are responsibilities that also need to be adhered to with the phasing out of traditional Journalists and the transition to the use of floggers.
When unusual cases arise, traditional media attempts a familiar act of weighing the ethical issues of fairness, and accuracy against the need for timely and accurate reporting. This method of Journalism squires careful and precise execution, but through the years there has become more pressure, due to a fierce competition of news outlets seeking to be the first on a story entities personally choose to remain unrestrained by Journalistic ethics, and challenging economic realities.
When the media decided to cover the Zimmerman trial, emotions were a higher priority rather than the facts and evidence involved, and as we tuned in daily many of the news shows focused on presenting their point of view as to which way the verdict should go instead of focusing on the laws that will be used to determine the verdict. We see this now as a normal trend on cable news channels and this is the ethical behavior that has the public wondering the role of the media. As discussed media covers a wide variety of events beyond the daily news.
Many stories involve celebrities whose freedom is intruded by the media, therefore invading individual privacy (Beltway, 2012). There are people who thrive on this type of information, but then there are people who do not care what these celebrities do in their personal lives. Other topics in the media that viewers express interest and concern would be issues such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and Eileen-causing nuisances (Beltway, 2012) which could be helpful in teaching how to prevent them from occurring in the future.
Some reasons the public does not trust news media can be that they are portrayed to be more interested in personal gains such as ratings and building profits rather than actually reporting news, too much power, interested in fame for personal gains to get ahead, focused on scandal instead of solutions, and that they are insensitive to the feelings of the public, not as being able to produce records and evidence to support the stories they are reporting on (Middleton, 2011).
When we think about ethical responsibilities in media we tend to focus on newspapers, television, radio, and magazines with the methods of supplying the information and messages presented. Several roles of the media can be described as being a mirror of society to keep the public informed, narrow the communications gaps, and interpret public policies including social and cultural events of our society. Now that we see the ethical issues along with the ethical problems the media presents to society, we ask how can it be resolved and restore the integrity that it was intended to be, the answer is the classical theory of utilitarianism.
To apply the utilitarianism theory we can determine that the moral value of the media results produce results of the greatest good for the greatest number. Utilitarianism is a powerful ethics in any democratic society (Christians, 2008), and is very influential in North America. The principal of utilitarianism does not only apply to moral, but to legislation also, and the purpose of laws is to maximize happiness in the community, therefore media is bound to the laws established, it also does not require a belief in god or in a universe of natural laws.
Journalists that re held liable for the consequences of his or her reporting will find the utilitarian theory the best approach in moral and ethical behavior, so if a reporter knows they are liable they will apply the results of the greatest good for the greatest number making sure that they have the facts and evidence of the event. Viewers should not imply that this theory is the belief of the media reporting what right or wrong on the topic. An alternative perspective to the classical theory utilitarianism of this discussion would be emotive.
Emotive is a moral theory based on people’s emotive responses to other people, events or principles. Emotive response simply meaner what a person is feeling towards something. It can be said emotive deals principally, if not exclusively, with human feelings. In other words emotional reactions cannot be examined or argued the same way (Moser, 2010). Implication of emotive is that nothing is actually good or bad. There simply are no properties of goodness and badness. There is only the expression of favorable or unfavorable emotions or attitudes toward something.
In discussing media ethical issues along with the problems they create, I have also explained how one of the classical theories f utilitarianism would resolve the problem along with an alternative perspective of emotive. I feel that after reviewing both of these views the one in my opinion that best suits resolving the problems presented would be emotive. In reporting news there is no good or bad, it is simply giving the facts and the evidence of what the story might be about.
For example the recent trial of George Zimmerman in Florida, the media got too involved with emotional feelings because there was only one side of the story with a crucial gap of a seven minute span where there were no witnesses o see what transpired to provide all the facts and the real truth of what happened. Media has filled the seven minute gap with endless hours of television show nonsense creating much of the racial tension that we saw in the days after the verdict.
Unlike the Simpson trial when there were days of widespread riots, this trial did have demonstrations , but nothing like the media was preparing the public for such as widespread violence, destruction, and civil unrest, in other words they falsely problems that are presented when media strays from actual reporting of events. Emotive holds that such words as “good”, “bad”, “right”, “wrong”, “should”, “ought”, do not refer to any quality of a thing or reality, and they are emotional expressions of a speaker and his or her intentions to influence actions of the listener.
Media should never put feelings into reporting such events as the Zimmerman trial because when they do it may show favoritism to one side or another. When our founding fathers signed the declaration they knew that the people needed a democracy that would have full access to unbiased information, and to be able to make informed decisions ND understand political policy. That is why we have freedom of the press in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
When information is censored or filtered through the offices of institutions concerned primarily with making profits or grinding political axes, the free flow of unbiased information cannot occur. The media has great power among American democracy because almost all of America gets their news from the media rather than second hand gossip or chatter from other people or sources. He way media covers events shapes how the public views the world and what they consider to be important. The population and government officials have a duty to pay attention to the media events.
Our governmental system and the media perform together many tasks that are crucial to the democratic structure of our country. The media reports the news, serving as a liaison between the politics and the people, while determining an agenda on issues for the public knowledge and discussion, and keeps people actively involved in society and politics. As we know media shapes opinions of the public such as politics, race, and economics. Media also bares the responsibility to seek the truth while reporting the facts and not misleading the public.