Table Of ContentDoing Ethics in Media
The second edition of Doing Ethics in Media continues its mission of providing an accessible but comprehensive
introduction to media ethics, with a grounding in moral philosophy, to help students think clearly and
systematically about dilemmas in the rapidly changing media environment.
Each chapter highlights specific considerations, cases, and practical applications for the fields of
journalism, advertising, digital media, entertainment, public relations, and social media. Six fundamental
decision-making questions—the “5Ws and H” around which the book is organized—provide a path
for students to articulate the issues, understand applicable law and ethics codes, consider the needs of
stakeholders, work through conflicting values, integrate philosophic principles, and pose a “test
of publicity.” Students are challenged to be active ethical thinkers through the authors’ reader-friendly
style and use of critical early-career examples. While most people will change careers several times during
their lives, all of us are life-long media consumers, and Doing Ethics in Media prepares readers for that task.
Doing Ethics in Media is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students studying media ethics in mass
media, journalism, and media studies. It also serves students in rhetoric, popular culture, communication
studies, and interdisciplinary social sciences.
The book’s companion website—doingethicsin.media, or www.doingmediaethics.com—provides
continuously updated real-world media ethics examples and collections of essays from experts and students. The
site also hosts ancillary materials for students and for instructors, including a test bank and instructor’s manual.
Chris Roberts is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the
University of Alabama, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He started his media career
before he could drive, working for newspapers and radio stations in his hometown before becoming a
full-time newspaper reporter and editor at papers in Birmingham, AL, and Columbia, SC. He earned his
doctorate at the University of South Carolina before joining the University of Alabama faculty. He served
on the Society of Professional Journalists ethics committee during its 2014 revision of its code of ethics.
Jay Black is Poynter Jamison Chair in Media Ethics, Emeritus, at the University of South Florida, St.
Petersburg. He is founding co-editor of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics and has authored or edited ten
volumes, including books on media ethics and five editions of an introductory mass media textbook. He
was co-winner of the first Freedom Forum Journalism Teacher of the Year Award in 1997. His doctorate
in Journalism was earned at the University of Missouri; other degrees were from Miami (Ohio) University
and Ohio University. He served on the Society of Professional Journalists ethics committee during its 1996
revision of its code of ethics.
DoingEthicsIn.Media | Follow us on Twitter @DoingEthics
DoingMediaEthics.com
Doing Ethics in Media
Theories and Practical Applications
Second Edition
Chris Roberts
Jay Black
Second edition published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Taylor & Francis
The right of Chris Roberts and Jay Black to be identified as authors of this work has been
asserted by them 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 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Roberts, Chris, 1965- author. | Black, Jay, author.
Title: Doing ethics in media : theories and practical applications / Chris
Roberts, Jay Black.
Description: 2nd edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021023639 (print) | LCCN 2021023640 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138041080 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138041110 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781315174631 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Journalistic ethics—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. |
Journalistic ethics—United States—Case studies—Handbooks,
manuals, etc. | Mass media—Moral and ethical aspects—United
States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. | Mass media—Moral and ethical
aspects—Case studies—Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Classification: LCC PN4888.E8 B535 2022 (print) | LCC PN4888.E8 (ebook) |
DDC 174/.907—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023639
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023640
ISBN: 978-1-138-04108-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-04111-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-17463-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781315174631
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Cover design by Rob Barge, Hardware Graphics
Indexing by James Roberts
Access the companion website:
www.doingmediaethics.com
To Melissa and James, who still one day might want to read the pages
that follow. Or they may say what Pee Wee told Dottie at the end of his
Big Adventure: “I don’t have to see it. . . . I lived it.”
—Chris Roberts
To Leslie, Laura, and Stephanie, who do ethics in the real world.
—Jay Black
Contents
List of Case Studies ix
Welcome to the Second Edition xii
About the Authors xiv
Introduction: Thinking About Doing Ethics,
and the “5Ws and H” List 1
The First Question: What’s Your Problem? 21
1 Ethics and Moral Reasoning 23
The Second Question: Why Not Follow the Rules? 49
2 Codes of Ethics and Justification Models 51
3 Media Traditions and the Paradox of Professionalism 78
The Third Question: Who Wins, Who Loses? 117
4 Moral Development and the Expansion of Empathy 119
5 Loyalty 148
6 Diversity 165
The Fourth Question: What’s It Worth? 197
7 Personal and Professional Values 199
8 Truth and Deception 229
9 Persuasion and Propaganda 268
10 Privacy and Public Life 302
viii Contents
The Fifth Question: What Do Philosophers Say? 327
11 Consequentialism and Utility 329
12 Deontology and Moral Rules 356
13 Virtue, Justice, and Care 383
The Sixth Question: How’s Your Decision Going to Look? 405
14 Accountability, Transparency, and Credibility 407
Glossary 438
References 450
Permissions 478
Index 480
Case Studies
Journalism
1.1 Think About Your Sources 47
2.1 The Club and Code 72
3.1 Can You Show Readers What the Fuss Is About? 110
4.1 Publish or Not—Changing Stages, Changing Sides? 142
5.1 The Harsh Out-of-Town Story 159
6.1 Covering a Candidate? 191
7.1 Show the Faces? 223
8.1 How Much Deception Do You Need to Nail the Story? 262
9.1 Taking Sides During Battle 296
10.1 Publish the Name or Not? 320
11.A The Temptation to Deceive 330
11.B Marketing Your Movie 333
11.1 How (and Whether) to Cover a Prank 348
12.1 How (and Whether) to Cover a Prank 377
14.1 Answering a “Fake News” Claim 432
Digital Media
1.A Take the Money—and Keep Your Self-Respect? 25
1.2 You Ate the Duck Soup 47
2.2 Make a Link—or Not? 73
3.2 When in Sylvania, Do You Do as the Sylvanians? 111
4.2 Paying to Reveal a Product 143
5.2 Is the Nominee Gay? 160
6.2 Do You Accept an Advertiser? 192
7.2 Do You Break the Wall? 224
8.2 Are You Using, or Being Used by, a Sock Puppet? 263
9.2 To Link, or Not to Link? 297
10.2 Choosing Among Privacy, Loyalty, and the Truth 321
11.2 Do You Take the Ads? 350
12.2 Do You Take the Ads? 378
14.2 You May Have Been Wrong 433
