COMMUNICATION MEDIA
LAWS AND ETHICS
This three-unit course deals with International protocols and national laws.
that affect communication media, particularly the practice of journalism. It
examines the democratic. principles of freedom of expression and
information. It also looks at regulatory and self-regulatory.
Module No. 1
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 3
MODULE OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................3
LESSON
What is Ethics?................................................................................................................ 4
ACTIVITY 1.......................................................................................................................6
Concepts and Theories in Ethics.....................................................................................7
ACTIVITY 2.......................................................................................................................9
Why Media Ethics?........................................................................................................ 10
Branches of Ethics......................................................................................................... 10
ACTIVITY 3.......................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY DETAILS.......................................................................................................... 1
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................1
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INTRODUCTION
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves
systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. The
basic concepts and fundamental principles of right human conduct. The branch of
philosophy defines what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the
nature of obligations, or duties, that people owe themselves and one another. In modern
society, ethics define how individuals, professionals, and corporations choose to interact
with one another. Most societies share certain features in their ethical codes, such as
forbidding murder, bodily injury, and attacks on personal honor and reputation. In
modern societies, the systems of law and public justice are closely related to ethics in
that they determine and enforce definite rights and duties. They also attempt to repress
and punish deviations from these standards.
MODULE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this module you will increase your understanding of:
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define ethics, values, morals, and laws.
create a better understanding of what ethics, values, morals, and laws are.
understand the how ethics, values, morals, and laws work.
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LESSON
WHAT IS ETHICS?
Ethics is a system of moral principles. Ethics is concerned with what is good for
individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The word ethics is
derived from the Greek word ethos, which means "character”. The term is derived from
the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character, or disposition. Ethics
covers the following dilemmas:
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how to live a good life
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our rights and responsibilities
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the language of right and wrong
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Moral decisions - what is good and bad?
Our ethical concepts have been derived from religions, philosophies, and cultures. They
infuse debates on topics like abortion, human rights, and professional conduct. It is the
study of right and wrong in human endeavors.
Ethics is two things.
First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what
humans ought to do, usually regarding rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or
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specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose reasonable
obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As
mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical.
Differentiate Ethics and Moral
Moral: Individualized code of right and wrong. Morals indicate their practice. The first
indicates a person's comprehension of morality and his capacity to put it into practice.
Moral in the Latin word mores, which means "customs."
Ethics: Standardized code of right and wrong.
Both define what is considered acceptable behavior for the individual or the group.
Value: is defined as the principles and ideals, which help them in making the judgment
of what is more important. A Value is something related to a particular culture that is
known as culturally accepted norms.
Ethics Vs Law
Ethics are standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group.
Law is a system of rules that tell us what we can and cannot do
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Laws are enforced by a set of institutions
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Legal acts conform to the law
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Moral acts conform to what an individual believes is the right belief of right and
wrong
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ACTIVITY 1
WOULD YOU LIE?
Watch the video below, then answer the following questions. You will present your
answers in class.
1. Is it okay to lie even if it produces greater happiness?
2. If lying is bad, how would you justify the stance that it is wrong to lie, even in
cases where others will be harmed if you tell the truth?
3. Do you think lying and mass media mix together? Why or why not?
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CONCEPTS AND THEORIES IN ETHICS
The word ‘ethics’ originates from the Greek word ethos which means ‘character’. The
subject of ethics has been discussed and debated by people the world over, particularly
by philosophers, for centuries. It is said that some 2500 years ago, Greek philosophers
had divided their work into three broad segments: aesthetics or the study of beauty;
epistemology or the study of knowledge; and ethics or the study of choices between good
and evil, truth and falsehood, virtue and vice. Ethics is a subject that seeks to use rational
and systematic principles, values and norms to determine what is good or bad, correct or
incorrect, right or wrong, as far as human actions are concerned. Though used
interchangeably on occasions, ethics is different from morality as the latter pertains
more to conventions and customs that determine or govern behavior and relatively less
to whether the action being judged is good or bad.
The first proponent of utilitarianism as an ethical principle was Jeremy Bentham
(1748–1832), the British jurist, philosopher, social reformer and political radical. He
noted that ‘nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters,
pain and pleasure’. Another English philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill
(1806–73), whose book Utilitarianism was published in 1863, argued that ethical actions
are those that generate the ‘greatest good for the greatest number of people’. In this
sense, utilitarianism directly refuted the views espoused by Italian political philosopher
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) who, in his treatise The Prince, argued that ‘the ends
justify the means’.
There are two main ethical theories which are frequently employed to determine media
behavior: consequentialism and deontology.
A. CONSEQUENTIALISM
The Consequentialism theory holds that the ethical value of an action should be
judged on its consequences. Actions themselves lack interest value, but can be
appraised by virtue of their consequences. Consequentialist theories focus only on
the outcome of an action, without regard for the means, that is, how the
consequences came about. Therefore, all actions should be thoroughly considered
in terms of their possible outcomes, before being executed. The outcomes of an
action can be evaluated from two perspectives: ethical egoism and ethical
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altruism. Ethical egoism holds that actions whose consequences will benefit the
agent of the action can be considered ethical. This perspective does not present a
cohesive social model as such actions might harm others. Ethical altruism on the
other hand holds that actions that benefit others can be considered good. One of
the most popular consequentialist theories, Utilitarianism is based on ethical
altruism perspective, which is designated to create the greatest good for the
greatest number of people, is a direct inference of consequentialism. The
utilitarian approach is applicable to the media as it considers the well being of the
society at large and is thus commensurate with the socio-centrism of journalism.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism as already stated, considers ethics which are designed to create the
greatest good for the greatest number. Mill, who formalized the ideas of Bentham,
argued that an action should have positive consequences for as many people as
possible. Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Sarvodaya, the welfare of all, resembles
the utilitarian theory. However, Gandhi was keen to stress that Sarvodaya was not
utilitarian because he felt that the utilitarian objective of satisfying as many as
possible was not sufficiently an ethical model, as why should the well being of the
minority be of any less value than that of the majority? Why should the welfare of
certain people be sacrificed? Thus there are many arguments against
consequentialism and the utilitarian theories of ethics.
B. DEONTOLOGY
Deontology focuses on a person’s duty as a means to determine appropriate
action. Immanuel Kant, the most famous deontologist, felt that it was the intention
behind an action that rendered it ethical or unethical. He argued that the only
right intention was the intention to act out of duty. This duty is that which can be
said to be good in all situations. He believed that ‘goodwill’ was the only virtue
that was good without qualification. Actions done out of goodwill are done out of
respect for moral law and out of duty. This is a very pertinent concept for the
media as it is the media’s duty to serve the public by providing information which
is impartial and which promotes knowledge and reason.
Journalists have many duties, however, there is no guarantee that these will
always be concordant. For an honest and sincere journalist, the duty to serve the
public, the duty to protect sources and the duty of loyalty towards the employer
can sometimes be in moral and ethical juxtaposition to each other. There are no
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easy answers to such dilemmas. It is therefore important to be familiar with all
aspects of these ethical systems to determine the most appropriate course of
action. It is thus vitally important for a journalist to be aware of the implications
of a report before publishing or broadcasting it.
ACTIVITY 2
THE TROLLEY PROBLEM
There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks,
there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for
them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull
this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, you notice that
there is one person on the side track. You have two (and only two) options:
1. Do nothing, in which case the trolley will kill the five people on the main track.
2. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one
person.
Which is the more ethical option?
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WHY MEDIA ETHICS?
Journalism is a social practice. Various media (plural of medium) of mass communication
like print, radio, TV, Cinema & interact, reach out to large numbers of people. The word
mass usually has a negative class connotation hence the frequent reference to the
proverbial unwashed masses, ignorant, uneducated, poor and common mass. Sourcing of
information while presenting news reports on gender crimes and natural
disaster/calamities. Therefore, there should be someone regulating the amount of
information reaching the masses.
Mass media changed over the years with the introduction of the Internet. This evolution
led to the phenomenon called convergence where all forms of media meet in one
common platform. There are so many advantages to this. However, it made everyone
become capable of posting anything. No one on the internet is governing what should
and shouldn’t be posted. This leads to the consumers becoming confused with all the
information they receive not knowing which one to believe and which one is telling the
truth. This situation calls for a basic understanding of ethics so that future
communication practitioners can be introduced to the proper ethics not just on the
internet but on all media platforms.
BRANCHES OF ETHICS
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to help us understand which ways of life
are worth following and which actions are right or wrong. The discipline of ethics has
branches: descriptive ethics, meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics.
1. Descriptive Ethics
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The category of descriptive ethics is the easiest to understand-it simply
involves describing how people behave and/or what sort of moral standards
they claim to follow.
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Descriptive ethics will include research from fields of anthropology,
psychology, sociology, and history in order to determine what people do or
have believed about moral forms.
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Descriptive ethics, also known as comparative ethics, is the study of people's
beliefs about morality.
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Descriptive ethics is sometimes referred to as Comparative ethics because so
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much activity can involve comparing ethical systems: comparing the ethics of
the past to the present, comparing the ethics of one society to another, and
comparing the ethics which people claim to follow with actual rules of conduct
which do describe their actions. It simply involves describing how people
behave and what sorts of moral standards they claim to follow.
2. Meta-Ethics
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Meta-ethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what
they mean. (“meta” means above or about). Are they merely social inventions?
Do they involve more than expressions of our individual emotions? It is a
philosophical study of the meaning, nature, and methodology of moral
judgments and terms, relations between various normative systems (e.g.,
morality, religion, law, custom, aesthetics, the requirements of carefulness, and
the judgments of taste), etc.
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Meta ethics searches for the origins or causes of right and wrong. For example,
the question of the objectivity or subjective of moral judgments and the
problem of the logical relation between moral beliefs and factual beliefs are
not directly concerned with the content of any particular form of moral life,
but with the general logical rules of any moral argument, whatever it
advocates or condemns, must be. It doesn‘t ask or make judgments about what
types of actions are moral and immoral; rather, it asks questions like:
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Does morality depend on what we believe about it, or is it independent of
our beliefs?
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Does morality depend on what God commands?
3. Normative Ethics
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Takes on the task of arriving at moral standards that regulate right and wrong
conduct. This may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire,
the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on
others. Normative ethics is the branch of ethics that asks general questions
about the morality of behavior.
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Normative ethics is concerned with classifying actions as right and wrong
without bias and that tries to answer general questions about how we should
behave, how we ought to act. In this area of ethics, you‘ll find claims like the
following:
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If doing x will benefit someone without harming anyone else, then it is
morally right for you to do x.
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4. Applied Ethics
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Applied ethics is the branch of ethics that asks relatively concrete questions
about the morality of specific actions and policies. It involves examining
specific controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal rights,
environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war.
By using the conceptual tools of Meta ethics and Normative ethics, discussions
in applied ethics try to resolve these controversial issues.
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For example, the issue of abortion is an applied ethical topic since it involves a
specific type of controversial behavior. But it also depends on more general
normative principles, such as the right of self-rule and the right to life, which
are litmus tests for determining the morality of that procedure. The issue also
rests on metaethical issues such as ―where do rights come from and what
kinds of beings have rights? These are claims about what sort of behavior is
morally permissible in general. They are also rules you can use to help you
decide what the right thing to do is in any given situation.
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The following branches focus on various issues of applied ethics:
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Medical ethics (e.g. euthanasia, abortion, human cloning, genetic
engineering,etc.)
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Business Ethics (e.g. corporate responsibility, rights and obligations of
employees, diversity and discrimination)
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Legal Ethics (responsibilities of individuals working in the criminal
justice system)
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Environmental Ethics (it‘s morally wrong to exterminate rare species of
animals and plants, raising animals in factory farms is morally wrong)
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ACTIVITY 3
HOW FALSE NEWS CAN SPREAD
Watch the video below, then answer the following questions. You will present your
answers in class.
1. What are some ways you can avoid falling for false information and avoid
contributing to the cycle of circular reporting?
2. What makes circularly reported facts so difficult to correct?’
3. What branch of ethics can explain why circular reporting exists? Why so?
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ACTIVITY DETAILS
The following are the rubrics for grading and scoring guide for the activities found in this
module:
Activity 1 and 3 – total of 20 points per student. See rubrics below:
Activity 2 - 10 points
PTS
EFFECTIVELY USES A
VARIETY OF
INFORMATION-GATHERI
NG TECHNIQUES AND
INFORMATION
RESOURCES
5-4
Demonstrates an extensive
knowledge of basic
information resources and
commands a wide range of
information-gathering
techniques. Demonstrates
creativity and
resourcefulness in
collecting data and
creating original data.
Consistently interprets
the information
gathered for tasks in an
accurate and highly
insightful way and
provides highly creative
and unique synthesis of
that information.
Demonstrates a thorough
understanding of the
important concepts or
generalizations and
provides analysis and
new insights into some
aspects of that
information.
Sentence structure and
grammar are excellent;
correct use of punctuation
and citation style; follows
the prescribed format, no
errors.
Demonstrates knowledge
of basic information
resources and commands a
useful range of
information gathering
techniques.
Consistently interprets
the information
gathered for tasks
accurately and
synthesizes the
information concisely.
Displays a complete and
accurate understanding
of the important
concepts of
generalizations.
Sentence structure and
grammar are strong with
occasional lapses in
punctuation, citation
style, and spelling. Barely
follows the prescribed
format.
1-2
Demonstrates little
familiarity with basic
information or
demonstrates a command
of only a few basic
information-gathering
techniques.
Rarely, if ever,
interprets information
gathered for tasks
accurately or
synthesizes the
information concisely.
Demonstrates severe
misconceptions about
the concepts and
generalizations.
Rarely uses proper
sentence structure,
grammar, punctuation,
citation style, and
spelling. Did not follow
prescribed format.
0
Fails to meet the minimum
standard.
Fails to meet the
minimum standard.
Fails to meet the
minimum standard.
Fails to meet the
minimum standard.
3
EFFECTIVELY
INTERPRETS AND
SYNTHESIZES
INFORMATION
DEPTH AND BREADTH
OF UNDERSTANDING
CONVECTIONS &
PUNCTUALITY
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REFERENCES
Freedom of Expression easily explained. (n.d.). Human Rights Channel.
https://human-rights-channel.coe.int/asset-freedom-of-expression-easily-explained
-en.html
Howie, Emily. (2017). Protecting the human right to freedom of expression in
international law. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Volume
20, 2018 - Issue 1: Communication is a human right: Celebrating the 70th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pages 12-15.
Moore, R. L., Murray, M. D., Farrell, M., & Youm, K. H. (2017). Media Law and Ethics.
Routledge.
United Nations. (n.d.). Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations.
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights#:~:text=Ar
ticle%2019,media%20and%20regardless%20of%20frontiers.
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