Good News: Social Ethics and the Press
Mass media ethics and the classical liberal ideal of the autonomous individual are historically linked and professionally dominant--yet the authors of this work feel this is intrinsically flawed. They show how recent research in philosophy and social science--together with a longer tradition in theological inquiry--insist that community, mutuality, and relationship are fundamental to a full concept of personhood. The authors argue that "persons-in-community" provides a more defensible...
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Mass media ethics and the classical liberal ideal of the autonomous individual are historically linked and professionally dominant—yet the authors of this work feel this is intrinsically flawed. They show how recent research in philosophy and social science—together with a longer tradition in theological inquiry—insist that community, mutuality, and relationship are fundamental to a full concept of personhood. The authors argue that "persons-in-community" provides a more defensible grounding for journalists' professional moral decision-making in crucial areas such as truthtelling, privacy, organizational culture, and balanced coverage. With numerous examples drawn from life as well as from theory, this book will interest journalists, editors, and professionals in media management as well as students and scholars of media ethics, reporting, and media law.
1Introduction3When Culture Suppresses7Perspective and World View10The Model's Four Elements122Enlightenment Individualism18The Eighteenth-Century Mind18Libertarian Press Theory25Academic Media Ethics32Deficiencies in Individual Autonomy41Normative Social Ethics443Communitarian Ethics49The Incredibility of Ethical Relativism54Mutuality61Types of Ethical Thinking75Epilogue834Civic Transformation84Patchwork or Fundamental Change?84Rethinking the Press's Mission86News: The Justice Story91News: The Making of Covenant98News: The Empowerment Story105News as Social Narrative1135Organizational Culture123Two Models124Corporate Moral Agency128Organizational Discourse132The Humanized Workplace141Institutional Infrastructure156Conclusion1636Normative Pluralism164The Technical Artifice167Purposive Nature173History as a Normed Process175World-View Pluralism185Conclusion194Notes197Bibliography235Index257
