COMM 3353:
Communication
Web
Technologies I
Chapter 11a:
Ethics and Legal
Issues
www.class.uh.edu/comm/classes/comm3353/ppt/_Pres11a.html
Ethics and Legal Issues
 Ethics and Ethical Behavior
 Ethics and the Mass Media
 Ethical Perspectives
Ethics and Ethical
Behavior
 Ethics:
 Guidelines for decision making by people that
influence behavior.
 Behavior:
 Series of choices between alternative actions.
 Are there good and bad decisions?
 Are people’s behaviors fundamentally good or
bad?
 What would happen without Law, Morals?
Ethics and Ethical
Behavior, Continued…
 There are no good and bad decisions,
just good and bad choices.
 Ethics always (except in abnormal
psychology) plays into the human decision
making process.
 Ethics does not, however, always dictate
behavior.
 What is Ethical Behavior?
Ethics and Ethical
Behavior, Continued…
 Ethical behavior is not standardized.
 No rigid standard for measurement.
 Most people think about ethics when making
behavioral decisions.
 If I stay up late, then. . .
 If I don’t do my homework, then . . .
 If I clean up the garage now, then . . .
 Most people don’t consciously think about ethics
when making random, quick decisions:
 If I get the mail, then. . .
Ethics and Ethical
Behavior, Continued…
 Evolution of the Ethics Impression on
the Human Experience:
 Toddlers and Young Children:
 More intuitive choices.
 Not much gray area (clear cut choices).
 Bad Behavior:
 Hurt another child or Stealing.
 Good Behavior:
 Sharing and being considerate to others.
Ethics and Ethical
Behavior, Continued…
 Adolescents and Teenagers:
 Less intuitive choices.
 Choices are not clear cut.
 Bad Behavior:
 Hurt another child, except if I’m being hurt.
 Good Behavior:
 Sharing and being considerate to others, unless by
sharing I’d go without -or- being considerate might get
me into trouble.
Ethics and Ethical
Behavior, Continued…
 Mature Individuals (Adults):
 Complex choices.
 Choices are filled with gray matter.
 Bad Behavior:
 Hurt another individual, unless my life’s in
danger.
 Good Behavior:
 Sharing knowledge and material goods with
others, when in the position to do so.
Ethics and the
Mass Media
 The Internet and WWW have remained
unregulated since the early 1980’s.
 Reagan Administration’s push for selfstandardization and governing by the
internet community and marketplace.
 But. . .
 What does it mean to be unregulated?
Ethics and the
Mass Media, Continued…
 Telecommunications Act of 1996:
 An update to the Communications Act of 1934.
 Encourages competition in the online marketplace
while relaxing some of the governmental restrictions
currently in place for broadcast and print media
ownership.
 Isn’t this regulation?
 It’s all about money. . .
Ethics and the
Mass Media, Continued…
 Telecom. Act of ‘96’s primary components:
 Fin-Syn Rules (Financial Syndication)
 Pre 1991: Rules preventing TV networks from
producing and selling their own programs.
 Now: total production / sales freedom.
 Networks can decide whether or not to sell their
productions to other networks.
 Even though the network would realize a lack of profit
from the sales, advertising would still generate some
income.
 Only financially sustainable by the larger networks.
 Ethical Challenge: The ability to control competition.
Ethics and the
Mass Media, Continued…
 Station Ownership
 Pre 1991: The number of RTV stations that could be
owned by a single entity was severely restricted.
 FCC wanted to diversify ownership.
 Would lead to diversity in editorial opinion.
 Now: Can now own up to 35% of the total market,
and one-station-per-market rule has been relaxed.
 No current national limits on the number of Radio stations
that can be owned by a single entity, but there are some
local limitations.
 Ethical Challenge: Being “fair” in the market place.
Ethics and the
Mass Media, Continued…
 Ethical Guidelines
 Without specific laws and regulations governing
internet behavior, Mass Media has begun to regulate
itself:
 Self-regulation
 Establishes ethical guidelines to help direct behavior in ways
that are appropriate.
 For the organization.
 For Individuals within an organization.
 For people who engage in business practices with the
Organization.
 For the Audience.
Ethical Perspectives
 The two main ethical perspectives used by
theorists and media practitioners in Mass Media:
 Deontological: (Gr. Deon, or “Duty”)
 Views ethics from a purely moral standpoint.
 Human behavior should be guided by moral principle,
obtained through religion, human conscience, reason, or
society.
 Good behavior comes from a set of good rules.
 Outcomes or results of actions are not considered.
 There’s always some benefit somewhere. . .
Ethical Perspectives, Continued…
 Deontological, Continued. . .
 “Categorical Imperative,” Immanuel Kant.
 Dictates that proper behavior comes from acting on
principles that you would want to become universal
law.
 (e.g. “Golden Rule)
Ethical Perspectives, Continued…
 Teleological Perspective: (Gr. Teleos, “Result”)
 Views the “rightness” or “wrongness” of behavior
based on the results of that behavior.
 Behaviors that result in overall good for society are
considered ethical and moral.
 Behaviors may be right in some situations and wrong
in others, depending on their outcomes.
 (e.g.: Utilitarianism, or the aim of an action should be the
largest possible balance of pleasure over pain, or the
greatest happiness for the greatest number).
Ethical Perspectives, Continued…
 Internet publishing is often guided by the
conscience of the individual at the keyboard.
 Not by rules, law, or professional ethics.
 Professionalism perception of a “name.”
 (e.g.: NY Times, CNN, etc.)
 Should the Internet be protected by the First
Amendment?
 Humans and the search for truth.
 Ability to weed-out the crap.
Ethical Perspectives, Continued…
 Ethics in Corporate Marketing:
 Do Corporations lie to make themselves appear better
than they really are?
 Environmental Issues:
 Humanitarian Issues:
 Do major organizations and “Big Business” have a
moral or ethical obligation to help society.
 If yes, why?
 If not, why do it?
Ethical Perspectives, Continued…
 What about Mass Media and Internet News
Technology?
 OJ Trial
 Suicide
 Who determines what news benefits or hurts society?
 Is the Mass Media really out to “help” society?
 It’s all about money!
 Environmental and Humanitarian Issues:
 Starving children abroad vs. starving children here at home. . .
Ethical Perspectives, Continued…
 Ethics and Ethical Behavior comes from
within, and any attempt to regulate
ethics would be futile.
 Controversial Issues:
 Abortion
 Legalization of Marijuana
 The Speed Limit
Ethical Perspectives, Continued…
 The Bottom Line:
 Human beings want to do good, but finding
“good” can be difficult when faced with
challenging and “gray” choices.
 Who decides right and wrong, anyhow?
The Internet and the
World Wide Web
End Chapter 11,
Part I.