Table Of ContentTHE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK
OF MASS MEDIA ETHICS
This fully updated second edition of the popular handbook provides an exploration of thinking
on media ethics, bringing together the intellectual history of global mass media ethics over the
past 40 years, summarizing existing research and setting future agenda grounded in philosophy
and social science.
This second edition offers up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of media ethics, includ-
ing the ethics of sources, social media, the roots of law in ethics, and documentary film. The wide
range of contributors include scholars and former professionals who worked as journalists, public
relations professionals, and advertising practitioners. They lay out both a good grounding from
which to begin more in-depth and individualized explorations, and extensive bibliographies for
each chapter to aid that process.
For students and professionals who seek to understand and do the best work possible, this
book will provide both insight and direction. Standing apart in its comprehensive coverage, The
Routledge Handbook of Mass Media Ethics is required reading for scholars, graduate students,
and researchers in media, mass communication, journalism, ethics, and related areas.
Lee Wilkins is Professor Emerita at the Missouri School of Journalism and Wayne State
University.
Clifford G. Christians is Research Professor of Communications, Professor of Media Studies
and Professor of Journalism Emeritus at the University of Illinois.
THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK
OF MASS MEDIA ETHICS
Second Edition
Edited by
Lee Wilkins
and
Clifford G. Christians
Second edition published 2020
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Taylor & Francis
The right of Lee Wilkins and Clifford G. Christians to be identified as the authors of the editorial material,
and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2008
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-68132-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-68133-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-54592-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Times LT Std
by Swales & Willis, Exeter, Devon, UK
CONTENTS
List of Contributors ix
Introduction xi
Lee Wilkins and Clifford G. Christians
PART I: FOUNDATIONS
1 A Philosophically Based Inquiry into the Nature of Communicating Humans 3
Wayne Woodward
2 A Short History of Media Ethics in the United States 16
John P. Ferré
3 Essential Shared Values and 21st Century Journalism 30
Deni Elliott
4 Moral Development: A Psychological Approach to Understanding Moral
Decision Making 43
Renita Coleman and Lee Wilkins
5 On the Unfortunate Divide between Media Ethics and Media Law 59
Theodore L. Glasser and Morgan N. Weiland
6 The Search for Universals 73
Thomas W. Cooper and Clifford G. Christians
7 Justice in Media Ethics 88
Shakuntala Rao
PART II: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
8 Truth and Objectivity 101
Stephen J. A. Ward
v
vi CONTENTS
9 Photojournalism Ethics: A 21st Century Primal Dance of Behavior, Technology,
and Ideology 115
Julianne H. Newton
10 Diversity Requires Ethics Change 133
Ginny Whitehouse
11 The Ethics of Advocacy: Moral Reasoning in the Practice of Public Relations 148
Sherry Pack Baker
12 The Ethics of Propaganda and the Propaganda of Ethics 163
Jay Black
13 Exploring Latin American Advertising Ethics: Legislation and Self-Regulation 180
Salvador R. Victor
14 Moral Problems and Ethical Issues in China’s Media 209
Jiang Zhan
15 Perspectives on Pornography Demand Ethical Critique 221
Wendy Wyatt and Kristie Bunton
16 Violence 234
Patrick Lee Plaisance
17 The Eroding Boundaries between News and Entertainment and What They Mean
for Democratic Politics 252
Bruce A. Williams and Michael X. Delli Carpini
18 What Can We Get Away With? The Ethics of Art and Entertainment in the
Neoliberal World 264
Angharad N. Valdivia
19 Culture Is Normative 276
Chad Painter
PART III: CONCRETE ISSUES
20 Justice as a Journalistic Value and Goal 293
David A. Craig
21 Transparency in Journalism: Meanings, Merits, and Risks 308
Kyle Heim and Stephanie Craft
22 Coercion, Consent, and the Struggle for Social Media 321
Kevin Healey
CONTENTS vii
23 Digital Ethics in Autonomous Systems 336
Michael Bugeja
24 Peace Journalism 356
Seow Ting Lee
25 Toward an Institution-based Theory of Privacy 374
Lee Wilkins and Philip Patterson
PART IV: INSTITUTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
26 Islamic Reform for Democracy and Global Peace 391
Haydar Badawi Sadig
27 Buddhist Moral Ethics: Intend No Harm, Intend to Be of Benefit 404
S. Holly Stocking
28 Communitarianism 418
Mark Fackler
29 Feminist Media Ethics 433
Linda Steiner
30 Spatial Ethics and Freedom of Expression 453
David S. Allen
31 Media Ownership, Autonomy, and Democracy in a Corporate Age 465
Matthew P. McAllister and Jennifer M. Proffitt
32 The Media in Evil Circumstances 479
Robert S. Fortner
33 Ethical Tensions in News Making: What Journalism Has in Common with
Other Professions 496
Sandra L. Borden and Peggy Bowers
Index 510
CONTRIBUTORS
David S. Allen Renita Coleman
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee University of Texas
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Austin, Texas
Sherry Pack Baker Thomas W. Cooper
Emerita Emerson College
Brigham Young University Boston, Massachusetts
Provo, Utah
Stephanie Craft
Jay Black University of Illinois
Emeritus Urbana, Illinois
University of South Florida
David A. Craig
St. Petersburg, Florida
University of Oklahoma
Sandra L. Borden Norman, Oklahoma
Western Michigan University
Deni Elliott
Kalamazoo, Michigan
University of South Florida
Peggy Bowers St. Petersburg, Florida
Independent Scholar
Mark Fackler
Boston, Massachusetts
Emeritus
Michael Bugeja Calvin University
Iowa State University Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ames, Iowa
John P. Ferré
Kristie Bunton University of Louisville
Texas Christian University Louisville, Kentucky
Fort Worth, Texas
Robert S. Fortner
Michael X. Delli Carpini Research Scholar
University of Pennsylvania University of Illinois
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Urbana, Illinois
Clifford G. Christians Theodore L. Glasser
Emeritus Emeritus
University of Illinois Stanford University
Urbana, Illinois Stanford, California
ix
