Speech, media, and ethics

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Mitchell Land, Bill W. Hornaday

"When America's mass media communicators confront complex ethical dilemmas, they usually take a utilitarian approach--which means they make decisions based upon "the greatest good for the greatest number." Although the utilitarian approach has many strengths, critics point out that the final arbiter of what is best for the community falls upon the individual communicator, who is not always in a good position to make such a determination. In contrast, a communitarian approach emphasizes community values as the final arbiter of a moral dilemma. Mass communicators should make decisions based on the values of the community rather than upon anticipated consequences or personal ethics. But, critics point out, what is community? A neighborhood, a city, a state, or a nation? And what if a "community" has a conflicting set of values? Which one should dominate, and who has the right to choose? Many media ethics textbooks lean toward one model or the other.^ But Contemporary Media Ethics uses both perspectives to understand and resolve ethical dilemmas that mass communicators face. The three chapters in the first section of the book ("Foundations") examine the history and philosophy of the utilitarian and communitarian perspectives, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of both. Then the remaining 23 chapters, which are written by leading media scholars and media professionals, apply both of these perspectives to real-world cases that deal with terrorism, AIDS, racial justice, environmental activism, homosexuality, sex in advertising, public relations, and the First Amendment. In Contemporary Media Ethics, readers also are introduced to the "Point-of-Decision Pyramid Model"--A new method for ethical decision-making developed by the editors that emphasizes a philosophical foundation as a starting point.^ This deductive approach is contrasted with the more inductive approach implied by the Potter Box, thus giving this book a unique niche in the media ethics textbook market."--Publisher's website.

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Ted Schwarz

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are guaranteed by the First Amendment. But how are these freedoms to be exercised? How are we to regulate the content of television, the press, movies, music lyrics, art - and now the Internet and the World Wide Web? Whose standards prevail? Whose ethics? Drawing on an astonishing array of famous and infamous examples - from the Washington Post to Geraldo!, from gangsta rap to Barney - to reveal highlights and lowlights in the checkered history of the media, bestselling author Ted Schwarz brings remarkable insight and clarity to this increasingly volatile debate. He probes the hidden practices of contemporary media moguls, the dubious tactics of news gathering and delivery, the soul of televangelism, the decades-long controversy over music lyrics, and the emerging dilemmas of digital communication.

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Michael Cholbi

This work is a comprehensive investigation of the main philosophical issues surrounding suicide. It contains seminal arguments concerning the nature of suicide and its moral permissibility, the duty to die, the rationality of suicide, and the ethics of suicide intervention. This book sheds philosophical light on one of the most puzzling and enigmatic human behaviors.

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Anat Scolnicov

"This book analyses the right to religious freedom within international law. Analysing legal structures in a variety of both Western and Non-Western jurisdictions, the book sets out a topography of the different constitutional structures of religion within the state and their compliance with international human rights law. The book also considers the position of women's religious freedom vis a vis community claims of religious freedom. Taking a rigorous approach to the right, Anat Scolnicov argues that the interpretation and application of religious freedom must be understood as a conflict between individual and group claims of rights, and argues for an individualistic interpretation of this right." -- Publisher's information.