Global Media Ethics (eBook)

Stephen J. A. Ward is Director of the George S. Turnbull Center in Portland, Oregon. The center is the Portland base of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication. Previously, he was the Burgess Chair of Journalism Ethics and Director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ward is the author of the award-winning The Invention of Journalism Ethics: The Path to Objectivity and Beyond (2005), Global Journalism Ethics (2010), and Ethics and the Media: An Introduction (2011); he is coeditor of Media Ethics Beyond Borders: A Global Perspective (2010).

Notes on Contributors ix

Introduction: Media Ethics as Global 1
Stephen J. A. Ward

Part I Media Ethics Worldwide 11

1 Why Media Ethics Still Matters 13
Nick Couldry

2 Universals and Differences in Global Journalism Ethics 30
Thomas Hanitzsch, Patrick Lee Plaisance, and Elizabeth A. Skewes

3 The Role of the Journalist in Reporting International Conflicts 50
Howard Tumber

4 Global Journalism Networks: Funding and Ethical Hurdles 69
Brant Houston

Part II Media and Diverse Public Spheres 87

5 Contextual Ethics and Arab Mass Media 89
Ralph D. Berenger and Mustafa Taha

6 From Journalism Ethics to an Ethics of Citizenship: Evidence from Colombia 110
Hernando Rojas and Tim Macafee

7 Media Ethics in a New Democracy: South African Perspectives on Freedom, Dignity, and Citizenship 126
Herman Wasserman

8 Democratization by Boilerplate: National Media, International Norms, and Sovereign Nation Building in Postwar Liberia 146
Jo Ellen Fair

Part III Global Issues 169

9 The Role of Global Media in Telling the Climate Change Story 171
Sharon Dunwoody and Magda Konieczna

10 Ethics of Global Disaster Reporting: Journalistic Witnessing and Objectivity 191
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen and Mervi Pantti

11 Affective Expertise: The Journalism Ethics of Celebrity Sourcing 214
Katherine M. Bell

12 Global Media Ethics, Justice, and Indian Journalism 235
Shakuntala Rao

Part IV Theoretical Foundations 251

13 Global Media Ethics? Issues, Requirements, Challenges, Resolutions 253
Charles M. Ess

14 Global Ethics and the Problem of Relativism 272
Clifford G. Christians

15 Global Media Ethics: Utopian or Realistic? 295
Stephen J. A. Ward

Index 315

"Global Media Ethics, which is, first and foremost,
didactic, provides fodder to identify and discuss crucial issues
that promise the growth of global media ethics. These issues
go beyond social scientific comparativism and philosophical moral
realism. They must be located within the tensions of
philosophical particularism and ethical universalism."
(Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 1 January 2014)

"This excellent collection extends the emerging genre of global
media ethics in several ways, but most prominently by underscoring
that while the study of global media ethics is important, there is
growing evidence there are few moral universals. Summing Up:
Highly recommended." (Choice, 1 October
2013)

"The book pleads convincingly that news media outlets and
practitioners should urgently reconsider their practices and norms
in a world gone global and digitally convergent. The various
contributions broach the topic from completely different
perspectives to create a very stimulating and constructive
framework to identify and face the new ethical challenges of
journalism and the news media."

--Francois Heinderyckx, Université libre de
Bruxelles

"News that crosses boundaries of culture and geography
means rethinking media ethics. The demands of role, audience,
digital transmission and an industry under fierce economic pressure
require the insightful approach to ethical thinking this volume
provides. From theory to practice, this book has something for
scholars and professionals alike."

--Lee Wilkins, Editor, Journal of Mass Media
Ethics