Desperately Seeking Ethics

Not just another media ethics book, this engaging and unconventional text breaks away from the usual practice of presenting the ethical theories of well-known philosophers in watered-down form. Instead, the contributors select a poem, movie, song, speech, or other cultural document, analyze it for implied or explicit ethical lessons, and then apply the lessons to a specific case that involved controversial media conduct.

Trends prevailing in the media suggest a seemingly disintegrating concept of media ethics. It is no surprise; being ethical is hard work and, could very well put a person in conflict with prevailing trends. Many of the people cited within the 13 essays of Desperately Seeking Ethics illustrate this_from Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr., who both died for their principles, to reporter David Kidwell of the Miami Herald who chose jail over testifying for the prosecution in a murder trial. This is not just another media ethics book. Engaging and non-conventional it breaks away from the usual text practice of presenting the ethical theories of well-known philosophers in watered-down form. Instead, the contributors, all of whom teach media ethics, select a poem, movie, song, speech, or other cultural document, analyze it for implied or explicit ethical lessons, and then apply the lessons of that work to a specific case that involved controversial media conduct. In addition to endnotes, each chapter contains questions for discussion and a list of further readings. Where possible, the contributors have included all or part of the poems, speeches, and other documents they analyze as sources of ethical instruction and inspiration.

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 1 A Teacher's Last Instruction: Love Each Other or Die
Chapter 3 2 Reporters or Peeping Toms?: Journalism Codes of Ethics and News Coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal
Chapter 4 3 How Close is Too Close?: When Journalists Become Their Sources
Chapter 5 4 Socrates in Jail: The Importance of Independence and Responsibility
Chapter 6 5 To See Our Flaws as Others See Them: Big Media through 007's Scope
Chapter 7 6 Created Equal: The Press and Hate Speech
Chapter 8 7 A Dream Deferred: Hip-Hop Music and the Media Portrayal of American Youth
Chapter 9 8 As Good as it Gets: The Media's Disabling Stereotypes
Chapter 10 9 Frost Warning: Advertising and The Road Not Taken
Chapter 11 10 Survivor in the Vast Wasteland: The Ethical Implications of Reality Television
Chapter 12 11 Professional Wrestling and Human Dignity: Questioning the Boundaries of Entertainment
Chapter 13 12 Natural Born Killers and Media-Born Thrillers: Ethical Contradictions in the Infotainment Age
Chapter 14 13 Boldly Seeking Ethics: Journalism's Great Adventure
Chapter 15 Index
Chapter 16 About the Contributors
Chapter 17 About the Editor