Media Ethics
Name:
Institution Affiliated:
Date:
Question 1; Lying and the Media
Lying is the act of saying or speaking false information to unsuspecting individuals. Lying is considered a vice by society. There is also a biblical law that prohibits lying, a vice listed among the ten commandments of God. However, modern-day society experiences numerous episodes of lying daily. A lot of people tell lies, journalists, politicians, lawyers, among others. From a situational point of view, lying can be considered both a good and a bad thing. In my opinion, lying is not always a bad thing. However, as a media personality, I would not lie for a story.
Like any other profession, the media industry has got its code of conduct, a set of laws and regulations which govern how journalists and other individuals in the media should behave (Simons, 2017). The code of conduct should always be upheld by all employees affiliated to any given profession. No code of conduct permits individuals to provide false information. Integrity is a virtue that should be practiced by every individual regardless of the circumstances. Thus, as a media person, I would not contravene any ethical regulation, including lying for a story.
The media is a sensitive profession since it is responsible for information dissemination to the general public. The public buys, subscribes to, and reads what is in the media; it depends on the media for updates on what is happening near them and around the globe (Simons, 2017). I would not imagine giving false and misleading information to the public, who innocently rely on the information in media to get updated.
Question 3; Law and Ethics
The law as a set of rules and regulations that govern and control how people relate with each other and with the global environment. On the other hand, ethics or code of conduct is a set of rules and regulations, which may not necessarily be written down, that help in determining what is morally right or wrong. Both laws and ethics govern our day to day activities and our decision-making process (Tsahuridu, 2019). However, compared to ethics, the law has a more powerful effect on people.
Laws are there to be followed; it is like they are imposed on people. One has to obey rules; there is no compromise to it. When it comes to ethics, in some situations, an individual can choose to do or not do what is morally accepted (Tsahuridu, 2019). For instance, euthanasia provides a clear explanation of why laws are more potent than euthanasia. Considering the result, euthanasia is killing. However, from a medical point of view, it is a practice that can be regarded as ethical, given prevailing patient situations and circumstances. However, in a case where subject A takes someone’s life, outside of the medical context, the law applies; subject A will be referred to as a murderer and will face murder charges. This shows how the law is more powerful than ethics.
Laws change from one jurisdiction to another; they are not universally uniform. However, ethics are universal; what is morally right or wrong cannot be dictated by geographical boundaries (Tsahuridu, 2019). Take the case of traffic rules; they change from county to country. Some countries keep right while others keep left. Once this is contradicted, one is arrested. However, whether one keeps left or right, ethics do not dictate.
Question 2; Advertising and Ethics
Advertising is the process through which businesses and organizations communicate their services and products to the general public, the consumers. Advertising can be done in various ways, some of which include print media, televisions, radio, as well as social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. While advertising provides important communication to consumers, there are issues surrounding some of the advertising techniques. There are controversies in the field of advertising which bring the issue of ethics. Advertising is not ethical.
Individual privacy is something that should be upheld and respected, not only by human beings but also by organizations. The right to privacy is a fundamental human right. However, advertising, in most cases, contravenes this law. For instance, there are situations in which consumers get numerous adverts through their phones or emails (Trisha, 2014). Additionally, even social media sites such as Facebook have become channels through which adverts reach consumers. Most communication companies have been accused of giving out client contacts (emails and phone numbers mostly) to advertising companies. These companies then send out broadcast messages and emails without consumer consent (Trisha, 2014). This is not ethical. Some consumers find this to be annoying.
Annoying pop-up videos in the form of advertising is also another unethical issue. These pop-up videos are the most popular on YouTube (Antonelli, 2017). On various occasions, when one is watching videos on YouTube, there are several pauses in the video due to different adverts popping up. For instance, an individual can end up spending close to five minutes to watch a two-minute video. The three minutes different is as a result of pop up videos.
It should be noted that the consumer pays for the data used to load videos; the adverts do not consider this. While the consumer incurs such data losses, both the media platform and the advertising company gain profits. The advertising company gets to communicate its product while the advertising media gets money from the advert. This is not ethical. Consumers have got the right to choose what to watch and how to watch it without interruptions from pop up videos in the name of advertisements.
The issue of advertising should take into consideration the content to be advertised and when to promote it. Moreover, how the content is created should follow ethical guidelines. In some instances, this is usually not the case. There are times when adult-rated content may be advertised when children are present (raisingchildren.net.au, 2019). It should be noted that parents are not under any obligation to determine the time which children spend on visual media such as televisions and mobile phones. Moreover, children get quick and uncontrolled access to social media sites where the adverts are plenty. Thus the children can quickly get access to adult-rated adverts easily. Such kind of advertising is not ethical. In situations where children get unlimited access to social media sites and other online sites, where adverts are not well controlled, they can easily access such kind of prohibited content. This is a question of accountability, more on the advertising side than the consumer side.
References
Antonelli, P. (2017, September 14). States of Design 04: Critical Design. Retrieved from https://www.domusweb.it/en/design/2011/08/31/states-of-design-04-critical-design.html
Raisingchildren.net.au (2019). Advertising: how it influences children and teenagers. Retrieved from https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/play-learning/screen-time-media/advertising-children
Simons, M. (2017, April 15). Journalism faces a crisis worldwide – we might be entering a new dark age | Margaret Simons. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/15/journalism-faces-a-crisis-worldwide-we-might-be-entering-a-new-dark-age
Trisha. (2014, November 10). How to Disable Cell Broadcast Messages in Android. Retrieved from https://www.trishtech.com/2014/11/disable-cell-broadcast-messages-in-android/
Tsahuridu, E. (2019). Why ethics and law are not the same thing. Retrieved from https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2015/04/01/why-ethics-and-law-are-not-the-same-thing