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SESSION B.4 : HANDOUT

ETHICS AND PROGRAMMING.

Media ethics is really about values. An examination of these issues will lead us to realise that many of the values at work in the media have been formed historically.

A realisation of this historical influence on media formats and values will enable us to examine how our values about much of what we see in the worlds is determined by the media.

In becoming part of media practices, we can consider how professional codes formed by industry leaders have determined what is considered ethical in professional conduct. These codes are often a mix of historical settings and current social mores.

The ethics of the media is not a dry, academic issue, as our view of the world that lies outside own immediate experience, comes to us almost entirely from the media.

How the media treats the issues dealt with in our case studies has a direct effect on the types of programmes and values we receive.

  • How could community media deal with these topics? Could we offer a more considered approach to such issues as minority rights, multi-culturalism and diversity?

If possible, we should seek for the 'Golden Mean', a position that respects the positions of both opposing sides.

As people in management positions we should always try to anticipate problems before they arise. For example, we could defuse much racial tension if we incorporated minorities into our general programming and not as a 'problem' when a row erupts. We could incorporate minorities in discussion, arts and sports programmes, talking as interested individuals and not as a member of a minority.

  • What are the cultural overtones of the multi-million Euros media advertising industry? We need to consider the overt messages of advertising and the subtler values of which we are only dimly aware.

How can community media deal with the constant tensions between the commercial and community development aspects of programme output?

Ethics is not an outdated philosophical topic, it is a necessary part of any consideration of human discourse, and as the media now form the most influential component of exchanges of ideas, it requires an ethical analysis. This approach will require us to examine how journalists, and broadcasters in general, (and this includes advertisers.) encode values and in the ways we decode and assimilate them.

… Can aware community media react with ethical programming that is more positive, prosocial and proactive

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