iMedia Ethics
Issues and Cases
Ninth Edition
Philip Patterson Oklahoma Christian University
Lee Wilkins Wayne State University
University of Missouri
Chad Painter University of Dayton
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
2
iiExecutive Editor: Elizabeth Swayze Assistant Editor: Megan Manzano Senior Marketing Manager: Kim Lyons
Credits and acknowledgments for material borrowed from other sources, and reproduced with permission, appear on the appropriate page within the text.
Published by Rowman & Littlefield An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com
Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2019 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging - in - Publication Data Available
ISBN 978-1-5381-1258-8 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-5381-1259-5 (ebook)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
3
https://www.rowman.com
iii For Linda, David, and Laurel
4
ivBrief Contents
Foreword Preface
1 An Introduction to Ethical Decision-Making 2 Information Ethics: A Profession Seeks the Truth 3 Strategic Communication: Does Client Advocate Mean Consumer Adversary? 4 Loyalty: Choosing Between Competing Allegiances 5 Privacy: Looking for Solitude in the Global Village 6 Mass Media in a Democratic Society: Keeping a Promise 7 Media Economics: The Deadline Meets the Bottom Line 8 Picture This: The Ethics of Photo and Video Journalism 9 Informing a Just Society
v 10 The Ethical Dimensions of Art and Entertainment 11 Becoming a Moral Adult References Index
5
viContents
Foreword Preface
1 An Introduction to Ethical Decision-Making Essay: Cases and moral systems
Deni Elliott Case 1-A: How to read a case study
Philip Patterson
2 Information Ethics: A Profession Seeks the Truth Case 2-A: Anonymous or confidential: Unnamed sources in the news
Lee Wilkins Case 2-B: Death as content: Social responsibility and the documentary filmmaker
Tanner Hawkins Case 2-C: News and the transparency standard
Lee Wilkins Case 2-D: Can I quote me on that?
Chad Painter Case 2-E: NPR, the New York Times, and working conditions in China
Lee Wilkins vii Case 2-F: When is objective reporting irresponsible reporting?
Theodore L.Glasser Case 2-G: Is it news yet?
Michelle Peltier Case 2-H: What’s yours is mine: The ethics of news aggregation
Chad Painter
3 Strategic Communication: Does Client Advocate Mean Consumer Adversary? Case 3-A: Weedvertising
Lee Wilkins Case 3-B: Cleaning up their act: The Chipotle food safety crisis
Kayla McLaughlin and Kelly Vibber Case 3-C: Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ prescription drug choices
Tara Walker Case 3-D: Between a (Kid) Rock and a hard place
Molly Shor Case 3-E: Was that an Apple computer I saw? Product placement in the United States and abroad
Philip Patterson Case 3-F: Sponsorships, sins, and PR: What are the boundaries?
Lauren Bacon Brengarth Case 3-G: A charity drops the ball
Philip Patterson
4 Loyalty: Choosing Between Competing Allegiances Case 4-A: Fair or foul? Reporter/player relationships in the sports beat
Lauren A. Waugh Case 4-B: To watch or to report: What journalists were thinking in the midst of disaster
Lee Wilkins Case 4-C: Public/on-air journalist vs. private/online life: Can it work?
6
Madison Hagood Case 4-D: When you are the story: Sexual harassment in the newsroom
Lee Wilkins Case 4-E: Whose Facebook page is it anyway?
Amy Simons viii Case 4-F: Where everybody knows your name: Reporting and relationships in a small market
Ginny Whitehouse Case 4-G: Quit, blow the whistle, or go with the flow?
Robert D. Wakefield Case 4-H: How one tweet ruined a life
Philip Patterson
5 Privacy: Looking for Solitude in the Global Village Case 5-A: Drones and the news
Kathleen Bartzen Culver Case 5-B: Concussion bounty: Is trust ever worth violating?
Lee Wilkins Case 5-C: Joe Mixon: How do we report on domestic violence in sports?
Brett Deever Case 5-D: Looking for Richard Simmons
Lee Wilkins Case 5-E: Children and framing: The use of children’s images in an anti-same-sex marriage ad