World Media Ethics

Robert S. Fortner is Professor of Communication and Media at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He has published widely on international communication, global public diplomacy, the history of international media, media ethics, and media theory. Most recently, he is the co-editor of The Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory (2 volume set, Wiley-Blackwell, 2014) and The Handbook of Global Communication and Media Ethics (2 volume set, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). He has extensive experience teaching, lecturing, and interacting with media practitioners in various countries around the world, from Moscow to Nairobi, and Abidjan to Ulan Bator. P. Mark Fackler is Professor of Communication at Calvin College in the, USA, and has written extensively on communication and journalism ethics. He is the co-author of Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning (10th edition, 2016), Ethics for Public Communication (2011), and Ethics and Evil in the Public Sphere (2010). He is the co-editor of The Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory (2 volume set, Wiley-Blackwell, 2014) and The Handbook of Global Communication and Media Ethics (2 volume set, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). He teaches communications ethics regularly in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia, and publishes with African scholars on media ethics in that region   

Preface vii

1 Introduction: Contexts for Ethical Decision-Making 1

2 Philosophical Perspectives on Ethical Decision-Making: The Individualist Traditions 19

3 Philosophical Perspectives on Ethical Decision-Making: The Collectivist Traditions 35

4 Ethics and Political Economy 54

5 Boundaries on Civil Discourse 75

6 Advertising, Public Relations, and Materialism 90

7 Global Entertainment 108

8 Media and the Political Process 121

9 The Rule of Law 138

10 Treasuring Persons, Protecting Institutions: The Protection of Minority Voices 149

11 Religion and Social Responsibility 169

12 War, Violence, and Media 179

13 Truth, Conflict, Chronic Problems, and Media Attention 190

14 Conclusion 205

Glossary 213

References 215

Index 243