Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From attempting to inform us about current events to entertaining us with imagined worlds, the media has a primary influence upon how we conceive the world, ourselves, and others. Consequently, the moral complexities, dilemmas, and duties that arise in relation to journalism and the media are difficult to negotiate. Critically developing a philosophical approach to conceptualizing the aim of journalism; the nature of good, impartial reporting; and moral restrictions concerning lies, deceit, violence, and censorship, this book argues for substantive positions concerning what we should, rationally, hold as the moral rights and duties of journalists and the media.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Media Ethics? News and the Fourth Estate
• Impartiality as a Regulative Ideal
• Deceit, Lies and Privacy Sex and Sexuality in the Media
• Violence in the Media Harm, Offense and Media
• Censorship
• Bibliography
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This carefully explained and detailed examination of media ethics has a deeper philosophical basis than recent books like Roy Moore's Mass Communication Law and Ethics (CH, Jun'94) and Gene Goodwin and Ron Smith's Groping for Ethics in Journalism (3rd ed., CH, Jan'95). Kieran (Univ. of Leeds, UK) covers news reporting; pornography; sex, sexuality, and violence in the media; censorship in liberal society; the values, concepts, and principles that those in the media should live by; news as the Fourth Estate and an essential component of free and democratic government; impartiality as an ideal; deceit and lies in investigative journalism; and invasion of privacy. Conclusions are obvious but worth making: moral responsibility about topics like sex and sexual behavior stays with the person, not the television program or movie; media representations of violence can both corrupt and cultivate an understanding of the world; censorship is justified if a report, film, or television program leads to physical harm or gratuitously offends. Frequent references to current events, television programs, and movies make the book easier to understand for the generalist, but its theoretical approach and detailed discussion will appeal more to specialists. Extensive notes, bibliography, and index; good reading for graduate students, faculty, and professionals in the media. C. M. Leder emeritus, Mott Community College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

MATTHEW KIERAN is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, England. He also teaches media ethics and has researched for the Broadcasting Standards Commission in the United Kingdom. His articles on aesthetics, ethics, and social philosophy have appeared in such journals as the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism and the Journal of Communication .