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BAMC3A
HIGHLIGHT
CHAPTER 1
ASSUMPTION OF ETHICS
Three Imperatives
1. The existence of God or a Supreme Being
2. The existence of human freedom
3. The existence of an afterlife
Imperative/s
of vital importance; crucial;
A thing that is very important and
needs immediate attention or action.
(Oxford Advanced Learners
Dictionary)
The assumption with the existence of God or
a Supreme being is very crucial for the whole
concept and study of ethics to make sense.
Whats the point of contemplating over what
is morally good or bad if we do not believe
that there is someone higher than any of us
could fathom, upholding the most supreme
and divine authority, who could see anything
and happening around us? And it is because
in that belief and assumption wherein our
concept of divine retribution takes place. The
idea that God, being the Supreme being,
exercises the judgment between those who
did good and bad here on earth.
The second Imperative, the existence of
human freedom, implies that without
freedom, no one is held responsible for every
action one does. It is said that with great
amount of freedom one has, there is also a
weighted amount of great responsibility
attached to it. If we are not free to do
anything, we are not accountable to our own
and anyones actions.
The Third Imperative highlights the existence
of afterlife to the study of ethics. It is in
connection to the first imperative, that is, the
assumption that there is the existence of a
Supreme being having the perfect authority
to cast justice to someone with regards to the
life hereafter, the question How well did we
live? comes into the picture.
An Alternative Perspective
German philosopher Hans Jonas proffers the sacredness of life
as a protonorm, establishing the idea of a universal norm free
of static Newtonian cosmology (Christians and Traber 1997)
Protonorm
The first principle that is a belief about what
is best for the world that different cultures
may express and practice in different ways.
(Christians and Cooper, 59)
We, as humans living in this world, follow
and share a common ground as a basis for
human actions.
CHAPTER 2
NATURE AND DEFINITIONS
Definition of Ethics
Divisions of Ethics
The science of ethics is divided into the following:
a. General ethics/theoretical ethics
-deals with the general principles and concepts of
moral philosophy
b. Special Ethics
-focuses on the application of the general principles
and concepts in individual human actions.
Theoretical Ethics
-Major questions include the nature of ethical
language, the objectivity of ethical beliefs,
and the nature of ethical reasoning.
-understanding the nature of ethics
Special Ethics
howexistingprinciplesapplytonewissues,
therankingofcompetingprinciples,the
standardsofbestpracticeinaprofession
onwhatshouldbedoneinaparticular
situation,andethicaldecisionmakinginthe
field.
practicalinnature
Sociology
-deals with the human social relationships
and institutions
Economics
-"Economics is the science which studies
human behavior as a relationship between
given ends and scarce means which have
alternative uses."
-- Lionel Robbins, An Essay on the Nature
and Significance of Economic
Science (London: MacMillan, 1932)
Psychology
-the study of the nature and structure of the
human mind and behavior.
CHAPTER 3
BASIC CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
Morality
Morality refers to the quality of the goodness and badness of
the human act. This quality is not something unreal, nor is it
an imagined quality supposed to be found in human acts
(Montemayor 1983)
Human Acts
A human act is an act done with full knowledge and
deliberation. (Quito 1989)
An act, therefore, that is done with some partial
knowledge or deliberation is, strictly speaking, not a
human act. Other moral philosophers define human
acts as simply as an act done with knowledge and
consent (Montemayor 1983)
An action that is well-thought of, wellplanned, and went into careful considerations
with full knowledge of its effect and
consequences.
End
-refers to the purpose of doing something
Means
-refers to the method used to reach a
common goal or end.
Circumstances
-situations that are related in doing the action
or means
According to Quito, these three should be
coordinated with each other in executing an
action to know if the human act is said to be
good or bad.
For example:
BAMC 3A will be having an examination in
BLE, Ja, who is a diligent student, wanted to
pass the exam so bad, however, due to her
obsession to pass, she made a cheat sheet
beforehand. During the exams, as she was
using the cheat sheet she made, Sir Pao
caught her in the act.
2.
3.
4.
Concupiscence
Antecedent
Consequent Concupiscence
Fear
Violence
Antecedent Concupiscence
-something that is not willed
Consequent Concupiscence
-stimulated by the will
PART 2
ETHICS IN MASS COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 4
CONSTRUCTING THE MASS COMMUNICATION
PROCESS AND ETHICS
The Dependency Model of de-fleur and Ball-Rokeach
The theory behind this model posits that in modern societies
the mass media are information systems vitally involved in
maintenance, change and conflict processes at the societal as
well as the group and individual levels of social actions. (De
Fleur and Ball-Rokeach, 1989)
M
e
G o v ed
rn m ei
n t/ a
S o c ie
ty
M e d i
a
U s e rs
/P u b li
c
Working Principles
o 1 Truth in reporting
o Klaidman and Beauchamp (1987) present
four (4) working principles that help ensure
truth in reporting:
Completeness
Understanding
Objectivity and Balance
Accuracy
Key Factors
Key factors that affect media presentation as identified by
Klaidman and Beauchamp are:
Situational
Structural
Cultural
Situational
Situational factors are external factors that
are beyond the control of an individual.
Structural
Refers to beyond the literal message the
medium conveys, for example, with regards
to TV news reports, the message is not the
content of the report, but rather the response
or attitude of the public afterwards with
regards to that certain news, it can be a
change on how they assess an issue, a crime
etc.,
Cultural
Lack of knowledge or background with
regards to different cultural orientations may
lead to stereotyping some news stories, only
highlighting the side of whats clear to the
reporter.
Audience
Media ethics scholars deem that the primary audience of the
media is the reasonable media user Of course, specialized
media, by their very nature, are expected to provide more
information, but his is only for their specific audience and not
for the general public.
Reasonable Media User
Special Publics
General Public
Success/Failure Indicators
CHAPTER 5
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND OTHER THEORIES OF
MASS COMMUNICATION
The Social Responsibility Theory has this major premise:
freedom carries concomitant obligations; and the media,
which enjoys a privileged position under the government, is
obliged to be a responsible to society carrying out certain
essential functions of mass communication in our society.
(Fred S. Siebert et al., Four Theories of the Press, 1956)
Hutchins Commission
2.
3.
Libertarianism
The offspring of the great revolutions of
the popular mind and the body politic
which characterized Europe during the
16th and 17th countries.
Given a free and open encounter, truth
will triumph over error. John Milton
The Mass communication system is
powered by private enterprise.
Restricted by capital demands
John Lockes phrase enlightened selfinterest
CHAPTER 6
TELLING THE TRUTH: FOUR WORKING PRINCIPLES
What is truth?
Truth refers to the degree of correspondence between
our conceptual representation and the object it aims
to represent.
Principle of Completeness
Substantial Completeness
-the point at which a reasonable readers
requirements for information are satisfied. But the
Principle of Understanding
Does not necessarily call for all the facts; sometimes
a set of facts or even one single fact could trigger an
understanding of an event.
Substantial Understanding
-involves apprehension of all material or important
descriptions but not all the relevant and certainly not
all possible descriptions.
Exactitude
-is the preciseness or exactness of something.
Meticulousness
-is the paying of attention excessively even to
the minute details.
3.
Structural Factor
According to Marshall McLuhan, the medium is the
message. Each medium has distinct characteristics
that determine the way the message is shaped and
transmitted by the specific medium.
Cultural Factor
Distortion or imbalance in communicating about a
subject can result from gaps in historical
knowledge, reliable cultural information, or personal
experience. These shortcomings can lead to
stereotyping or romanticizing of cultures.
CHAPTER 8
THREATS TO MEDIA PUBLIC SEVICE AND TRUST
Threats to Media Public Service Function (as identified by
Georgie Anne Geyer)
The New Diplomats
-born out of the new role of the media professionals
-media communicators are no longer just on-lookers
but participants in the great play of life and no longer
simply the observers on the wingsthey are arbiters
Rampant Careerism
-refers to an unhealthy obsession to advance ones
personal career, especially with the use of
unscrupulous means
Crisis Coverage
-Not a few believe that media is over-covering the
crises of the world and under-covering major trends.
-Coverage does not make people understand the
world better but causes them to view the world as a
very threatening or unnatural place.
Many media people nowadays only have onthe-surface level idea of what their
profession is all about. Mostly, for the fame,
spotlight, you name it. They are more
attracted to the calling of glamour and
prestige, thats why it is not very surprising if
theyll use any means just to reach that goal.
Example: Cardboard-Bun Hoax (July 2007)
Dishonesty in Style
-manifests itself in various forms
How the media cover news stories have a
major influence in influencing the opinion
and perceptions of everyone. Nowadays, it is
true, that the media do not tell us what we
need, but what we should talk about.
Adversariness
-has historical roots
-the danger in adversariness lies in the tendency by
some media persons to make a simplistic map of
their world: our side and their side, two continually
opposing forces.
CHAPTER 9
ON MANIPULATING AND BEING MANIPULATED
The principal sources of manipulation in mass communication
Control
Is always executed through some form of influence.
Coercion
bounds.
Influence
-is anything that can act as a compelling
force that can have an impact to ones
individual, be it in his own choices, decisions
and behaviors. Not all restricts our freedom
to do something out of our own free will.
However, when influence through
manipulation and coercion enters the scene,
this is something that should not be taken
lightly.
Control
-is the exercise of a command over
something accompanied by some form of
influence.
Persuasion
- is a form of influence that appeals to reason.
-an appeal to reason that succeed in getting others to
freely accept the beliefs, values, attitudes or actions
of the persuaders.
Manipulation
Is defined as any intentional and successful influence
of a person by:
1. Non-coercively altering the actual choices
available to a person or
2. Non-persuasively altering the others perception
of those choices.
Manipulating Media
The mass media is one principal manipulator in the mass
communication world, and it is able to do so because of its
immense power, deriving from strategic human and
material/economic resources.
CHAPTER 10
HARMS/BENEFITS CALCULUS
Harm
-According to Joel Feinbergs contention, harm
involves the thwarting, defeating, or setting back on
an interest.
Concept of Calculus
Calculus
-a system of calculation and/or reasoning
2.
Inevitable Harm
-harm that cannot be avoided example
Retraction
CHAPTER 11
MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY AND CRITICISM
Restitution
-the act of restoration
For example, a jeepney driver accidentally
hit a boy at the road. The driver may be
ordered to compensate for the boys medical
expenses.
Concept of Accountability
Being accountable is being defined as being answerable and
being liable to be called for an accounting.
Ombudsman practice;
- Providing an independent source for receiving
complaints from aggrieve parties in order to
probe the justifiability of the complaint and to
make recommendations for a change.
Types of Criticism
Internal
Refers to the structure and practice within the
organization which guarantees that anyone who has
something to say about the strengths and weaknesses
of the profession is given the space.
External
Also refers to the practice of self-regulation
of the media, thoroughly abiding by their
own rules and codes of ethics.
CHAPTER 12
HUMAN VIRTUES IN MASS COMMUNICATION
What is virtue?
Virtues are those habits that can make a person perform well.
And there are two areas where a person can be said to perform
his functions well as a human being: the will and the intellect
(Quito 1989)