Fall 2011, Vol. 23, No. 1
Future of Press Regulation?
Thomas offers a prediction of what press regulation in the U.K. will be like after the News of the World was caught telephone hacking—using unethical means to achieve the most titillating ends.
Unethical Fireworks
When CBS-TV aired the July 4th Boston Pops concert and the following fireworks display in 2011, was it news? Entertainment? Both? Real or unreal? The Boston Globe takes this matter seriously.
Unhappy Valley
Gordon takes an early look at an ongoing story and asks why so few media outlets—local or national—took so long to cover the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.
Realistic Ethics: A Brief Look
Return to one of Merrill’s favorite exemplars: Niccolo Machiavelli. Maybe we should pay more attention to pragmatic—or even selfish—ethical behavior.
Should the Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case Change the Ethics of Covering Crime?
Breslin considers if the victim of a crime should lose all vestiges of privacy when the media pack of reportorial and photographic wolves (or dogs?) is turned loose.
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Analysis/Commentary
The Future of Press Regulation in Britain after the News of the World Scandal
By Ryan J. Thomas
Thomas offers a prediction of what press regulation in the U.K. will be like after the News of the World was caught telephone hacking—using unethical means to achieve the most titillating ends.
Photo: Ben Sutherland
An “Ethicalia” Murdoch Retrospective—a Race to the Bottom
By Manny Paraschos
Paraschos compiles earlier mentions of Rupert Murdoch that have appeared in these pages.
Narrative Exemplars and Lessons Learned from the News of the World's Demise
By William R. Davie
Davie looks at some of the lessons to be learned from the demise of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World and all who sailed in her.
Photo: Ben Sutherland
Unethical Fireworks
By James H. Burnett
When CBS-TV aired the July 4th Boston Pops concert and the following fireworks display in 2011, was it news? Entertainment? Both? Real or unreal? The Boston Globe takes this matter seriously.
Photo: © Stephen Orsillo
Realistic Ethics: A Brief Look
By John C. Merrill
Return to one of Merrill’s favorite exemplars: Niccolo Machiavelli. Maybe we should pay more attention to pragmatic—or even selfish—ethical behavior. It is certainly more in keeping with the standards of most human beings…isn’t it?
Photo: Mpclemens
Should the Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case Change the Ethics of Covering Crime?
By Jack Breslin
Breslin considers if the victim of a crime should lose all vestiges of privacy when the media pack of reportorial and photographic wolves (or dogs?) is turned loose.
Photo: Cartoonist 2006
Journalists and the Fear of Islam: How the Political Blogosphere Imposed “Islamophobia” on Mainstream U. S. Media
By Nadia Dala
Dala explores how the ultra-conservative blogosphere set the agenda for mainstream media’s acceptance of "Islamophobia" after 9/11.
Unhappy Valley
By A. David Gordon
Gordon takes an early look at an ongoing story and asks why so few media outlets—local or national—took so long to cover the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.
Photo: Terri Ogan
Media Cheating and Sports Ethics—or Vice Versa
By Gary Gumpert and Susan Drucker
Gumpert and Drucker muse on what the roles of television should be when a sport enthrones a form of “cheating” as part of its appeal to spectators.
Photo: Keith Allison
Surreality TV in Iowa: Stephen Colbert’s Parallel Universe
By Ormond Smythe
Smythe wonders if Stephen Colbert is "for real." After all, the television satirist has established an actual money-raising Super-Political Action Committee—like the big guys.
Photo: Yodel Anecdotal
Belligerent Narratives and Famine: Invoking an African Moral and Ethical Theory
By Ali Noor Mohamed
Mohamed examines traditional African moral principles and asks why the media haven’t used them to help mend the shocking starvation disaster in the Horn of Africa.
Photo: Edu-Tourist
Media Ethics Defined
Harwood is glad to be able to report that the term "media ethics" has finally achieved definitional acceptance in an important new dictionary.
Photo: University of Dublin
On Teaching Philosophy of Film
By Monica A. Link
Link argues that institutions of higher education need to teach the philosophy of film, rather than merely use film to teach philosophy.
Photo: Pburt207
Correction and Editor's Note
Regarding Edward Wasserman’s "The Dilemma of the Evil but Truthful Source”"published in Spring 2011.
