The Liverpool Murder Case
• British law prohibits
reporting the names and
family histories of children
facing criminal charges
until their trials are
complete. Is the legal
standard the only possible
one we can use to evaluate
this case?
The above picture taken from a shopping
center security camera shows two-year-old
Jason Bugler being kidnapped from his
mother by two ten-year-olds who would
eventually brutally murder the child.
• Is Britain’s domestic
standard compelling for
the international media?
Ethics and Values
Ethics - the discipline dealing with what is
morally right or wrong, good or bad.
Ethical system describes the critical process
of how we work through moral issues
Values - the accepted principles or standards
of an individual or a group
All decision-making involves values which
reflect our presuppositions about social life
and human nature!
Types of Values
Professional
Moral Values Aesthetic Logical
Socio-cultural
Proximity
Firstness
Impact/magnitude
Recency
Conflict
Human Interest
Entertainment
Novelty
Toughness
Thoroughness
Immediacy
Independence
No prior restraint
Public’s right to
know
Watchdog
Truthtelling
Harmonious Consistent
Humanness
Pleasing
Competent
Justice/fairness Imaginative KnowledgeFreedom
able
Independence
Stewardship
Honesty
Nonviolence
Commitment
Self-control
Thrift
Hard work
Energy
Restraint
Heterosexuality
Values Used by the British
Press
Legal value: Honor the
court restrictions against
reporting juvenile
names and family
background.
Principles Used by the
British Press
Other-regarding care:
The privacy of children
facing criminal charges
must be protected at all
costs.
Values Used by the
American Press
Professional value: Do
not suppress public
information.
Principles Used by the
American Press
Truth-telling: All people
have a right to know the
truth. The truth must be
proclaimed under all
conditions.
Resulting Action of the
British Press
Withhold information
about the defendants
including names and
personal histories
Resulting Action of the
American Press
Print names of
defendants and
information on their
personal histories.
Four Dimensions of Moral Analysis
Definition
Loyalties
↓
Values
↑
→
Principles
Potter Box Applied to the
Liverpool Murder Case
JUDGMENT
British Television: withhold broadcasting
SITUATION
U.S. Newspaper: publish names and
details
Two ten-year-olds go to trial for
kidnapping and brutally murdering
two-year-old Jason Bugler
LOYALTIES
British Television: to juvenile
defendants and their families
U.S. Newspaper: to general readership
VALUES
PRINCIPLE
British Television: honor the court
restrictions against reporting
juvenile names
British Television: otherregarding care
U.S. Newspaper: do not suppress
public information
U.S. Newspaper: truthtelling is
categorical imperative
Determining the Ethical Decision
Is there a universal ground for making ethical
decisions, an overarching theory from which we
can choose among competing alternatives?
Or is ethical decision making simply a process of
adjusting to the mores of a given community?
The Potter Box accounts for both.
Without an appeal to an explicit ethical
principle, a conclusion is not considered morally
justified.
Evaluation With the Potter Box Model
When competing values seem appropriate,
resolution usually occurs in step three (ethical
principles).
When two different ethical theories are relevant,
the adequacy of the theories themselves must be
evaluated through metaphysics or theology.
Occasionally, the ethical choice is not apparent
until quadrant four, loyalties, as in the case of the
Liverpool murder.
Why We Study the Process By
Which Choices Are Made
Knowing the elements in moral analysis
sharpens our vocabulary and enhances our
discussion of media ethics
Understanding the logic of social ethics
improves the quality of our conceptual work
and the validity of the choices we make in
media practice.
The four dimensions of the Potter Box allow
us to develop normative ethics.
Using Ethical Principles
Guidelines
1. Always treat specifics very carefully.
2. Values must be isolated and accounted for.
3. Values must be checked, questioned, or
corrected using steps three and four of the
Potter Box.
Ethics vs. Values
Ethics involves an understanding of theology
and philosophy as well as debates in the
history of ideas over justice, virtue, the good,
etc.
Values pervade all dimensions of human
experience, even scientific experimentation.
Challenging Moral Norms
Our society challenges the practice of
searching for moral norms.
BUT norms rightly understood are
foundational for moral commitment.
Purpose of Sound Ethical
Reasoning
Allows us to draw responsible conclusions that
yield justifiable actions
Helps us to determine which ethical theory is
most powerful under which conditions
Five Categories of Ethical Theories
1. Ethical Theories based on
Virtue
Aristotle’s Mean/Confucius’
Golden Mean
2. Ethical Theories based on
Duty
Kant’s Categorical
Imperative
3. Ethical Theories based on
Utility
Mill’s Principle of Utility
4. Ethical Theories based on
Rights
Rawls’s Veil of Ignorance
5. Ethical Theories based on
Love
Judeo-Christian Persons as
Ends
Ethical Guidelines
Based on Virtue
Aristotle’s Mean
Confucius’ Golden Mean
Aristotle’s Mean
“Moral virtue is a
middle state determined
by practical wisdom”
Four Cardinal Virtues
TEMPERANCE
JUSTICE
COURAGE
WISDOM
Extremes
Indifference
Cowardice
Caution
JUSTICE
Indulgence
COURAGE
Temerity
WISDOM
Spontaneity
Main Ideas
Propriety before duty or love
Character over conduct
Outer behavior as a reflection of inner
disposition
Equilibrium and harmony
Practical Wisdom
Phronesis
Moral discernment
Knowledge of the proper ends (telos) of
conduct and the means of attaining them
Distinct from both theoretical knowledge
and technical skill
Using Practical Wisdom
Applied to “individual facts” by locating
“the mean between two vices, that which
depends on excess and that which depends
on defect”
Examples

Case 16

Case 29
Summary of Aristotle’s Mean
NOT a weak-minded consensus
NOT a compromise
NOT a mathematically equal distance
between two extremes
Aristotle’s mean involves the correct
quantity, the correct timing, the correct
people, the correct motives, and the correct
manner
Confucius’ Golden Mean
“Moral virtue is the
appropriate location
between two
extremes”
Main Ideas
Rooted in virtue
Virtue as benevolence, kindness, generosity,
and balance (a mean between two extremes)
Excellence dependent on character not social
position
Equilibrium and Harmony
“Equilibrium (chung) is the great root from
which grow all human actings in the world.
And harmony (yung) is the universal path all
should pursue. Let the states of equilibrium
and harmony exist in perfection, and happy
order will prevail throughout heaven and
earth, and all things will be nourished and
flourish”
Applying Confucius’ Golden Mean
1. Identify all extremes
2. Resolve competing obligations using the
Golden Mean
3. Reject any extremes
4. Choose the middle path
Ethical Guidelines
Based on Duty
Kant’s Categorical Imperative
Kant’s Categorical Imperative
“Act only on that
maxim whereby you
can at the same
time will that it
should become a
universal law”
Main Ideas
Ethics are objective
Any genuine moral obligation can be
universalized
Categorical = unconditional
What is right must be done regardless of
circumstances
Existence of higher truths
Deontological ethics
Higher Truths
Noumena
Superior to reason
Transcend physical universe
Innate in human beings
Apprehended by conscience NOT reason
Deontological Ethics
From deon (Greek for duty)
Rule determines the result
Rule is the basis of the act
Rule is good regardless of the act
Result always calculated within the rules
Application of Kant’s Categorical
Imperative
Moral law is unconditionally binding on all
rational beings.
Certain actions are always wrong.
Certain actions are always right.
Examples
Ethical Guidelines
Based on Utility
Mill’s Principle of Utility
Mill’s Principle of Utility
“Seek the greatest
happiness for the
greatest number”
Main Ideas
Consider what course will yield the best
consequences for the welfare of human beings
Ethical choice produces the greatest balance of
good over evil
Good end must be promoted, bad end must be
restrained
The Good End
Happiness or pleasure
To Mill, preventing pain and promoting
pleasure are the only desirable ends.
Pluralistic utilitarians argue that other
values besides happiness possess intrinsic
worth (friendship, knowledge, health).

Rightness or wrongness assessed according to
total value ultimately produced
Application of the Principle of Utility
1. Calculate the consequences of various
options. How much benefit and how much
harm would result in the lives of everyone
affected, including ourselves?
2. Choose the alternative that both
A.
B.
Produces the greatest possible balance of good
over evil
Distributes this balance as widely as possible
Two Types of Utilitarianism
1. Act Utilitarianism: Greatest good in a
specific case
Will a particular action in a particular
situation result in a balance of good over
evil?
2. Rule Utilitarianism: Greatest good for
general welfare
Will a general rule result in a balance of
good over evil?
Ethical Guidelines
Based on Rights
Rawls’s Veil of Ignorance
Rawls’s Veil of Ignorance
“Justice emerges when
negotiating without social
differentiations”
Main Ideas
Fairness fundamental to justice
Egalitarian perspective
Fairness as quantitative in basic cases
Elimination of arbitrary distinction
Emphasizes the morally appropriate action, not
the action that benefits the most people
Veil of Ignorance
Roles and social differentiations eliminated
Race, class, gender, and other personality
features suspended behind the veil
Equality behind the veil intended to protect the
weaker party and minimize risks
Two Principles
1. Maximal system of equal basic liberty
2. All social goods other than liberty may be
distributed unequally only if distribution
favors the least advantaged side
Ethical Guidelines
Based on Love
Judeo-Christian Persons as Ends
Noddings’ Relational Ethics
Judeo Christian Persons as Ends
“Love your neighbor as yourself”
“What is the Will of Heaven like? The
answer is – To love all men everywhere
alike”
Main Ideas
All moral obligations derived from the
command to love God and humankind
Love for neighbor as normative
Regard for others as personal, not legalistic (as
with Rawls’s contract)
Humans made in the image of God and with
unconditional value apart regardless of
circumstances
Agape Love
Unselfishness, other-regarding care
Much more than friendship, charity, or
benevolence
To love is to accept a person as he or she is
with unalterable commitment and permanent
loyalty
People are never given instrumental value
Advantages
Practical, gives help to those who need it
Avoids discrimination without denying
distinctions
Does not presume to assign value to an
individual
Noddings’ Relational Ethics
“The ‘one-caring’
attends to the
‘cared-for’ in
thought and
deeds”
Main Ideas
Ethics rooted in relationships
Emphasizes nurturing and caring for people,
not avoiding harm to others
Roles of the one-caring and the cared-for
Three dimensions: engrossment, motivational
displacement, and reciprocity
To Whom Is Moral Duty
Owed?
Who Ought to Decide?
Five Categories of Obligation
1. Duty to ourselves
2. Duty to clients / subscribers / supporters
3. Duty to our organization or firm
4. Duty to professional colleagues
5. Duty to society
Loyalties
Duty to society is critical
Ethical decision-making must be marked by
a sincere sense of social responsibility and a
genuine concern for the citizenry
In the Potter Box the loyalty component
necessitates the acknowledgment of the
implications of a decision for institutions
and social groups before an ethical decision
is made.
Accountability
Are parents alone accountable for the programs their
children watch, or do advertisers and networks carry
responsibility also?
Can producers of entertainment dismiss their
responsibility for quality programming by arguing
that they merely give the public what it wants
Requiring accountability across the board preferable
to giving absolute authority to one person or group.
Individuals
The individual is the authentic moral agent.
Though corporations are real, they are not
concrete enough to be assigned praise or blame
in any real sense.
Ultimately it is the individual who will be held
responsible.
Corporate Obligation
Corporate obligation still meaningful
Ultimate responsibility rests with individuals
but must be distributed among the individuals
constituting a corporation.
Broad attacks on entire media systems are not
helpful. Ethics is fundamentally concerned
with individual choices.