Synopses & Reviews
From the blaming of Princess Diana's death on news photographers to the public apology by CNN over its erroneous Vietnam-nerve-gas story, journalism and the American media in general are being placed under the microscope. The media-now more powerful than ever before due to computer advances, cable television, and the internet-controls our opinions, tastes, and, as some would have us believe, our actions.
But has the media shed its ethics and gotten completely out of control? Has the quest to get the big scoop crippled the news media into believing "first" is better than factual? To whom is the media responsible-the public, the stockholders, the advertisers? Who decides what may "harm" an audience or what is unsuitable for children? Who, if anyone, should regulate the media? How do political agendas play into censorship (the FCC) and funding of the media?
These questions and more are probed in The Media and Morality, a wide-ranging selection of important essays that explores relationships between the media and its diverse audiences, its sponsors, stockholders, governments, and others. The authors attempt to define the obligations of the media in these relationships as well as the risks, benefits, and limits.
In addition to providing up-to-date commentary and opinion on the latest controversial and precedent-setting journalistic developments, this book will help readers toward an ethical analysis of the media in the Information Age.
Table of Contents
pt. I. Journalism and ethics. Journalism and ethics : the terrain. Needed : a more ethical press / John C. Merrill -- Journalists just leave : the ethics of an anomalous profession / James Carey -- Ethics as a vehicle for media quality / Andres Belsey and Ruth Chadwick -- Sleaze journalism? : it's an old story / Adam Goodheart -- Journalism's feeding frenzy. The Jewell case : Going to extremes / Alicia C. Shepard ; Journalists, the FBI, and the Olympics bomb / Lou Hodges et al. -- The Diana case : Journalism after Diana / Lance Morrow ; The Diana aftermath / Jacqueline Sharkey ; Without skipping a beat / Sinâead O'Brien -- The Clinton case : Where we went wrong / Jules Witcover ; After Monica, what next? / Neil Hickey ; Spot news : the press and the dress / Lawrence K. Grossman ; Wag the media / Don Hazen ; Cartoon / by Dick Wright --