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Lecturer(s)
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Motal Jan, doc. MgA. Ph.D.
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Course content
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* Media ethics as a field of applied ethics: values, moral dilemmas, and professional responsibility. * Ethical theories and decision-making models: deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, justice ethics, care ethics, the Potter Box model, and its critique. * Profession, professionalism, and the public commitment of journalism. * Normative theories of the media: libertarian, social responsibility, corporatist, and participatory models; critiques of classical normative theories. * The public and the public sphere: Habermas, critiques of the deliberative model, the plurality of publics, social bubbles, censorship, and self-censorship. * Journalism ethics: truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, balance, independence, transparency, accountability, and trust. * Public interest, privacy, protection of sources, working with vulnerable individuals, and secondary victimization. * Media self-regulation: codes of ethics, professional organizations, press councils, ombudsmen, and editorial guidelines. * The ethics of documentary photography and film: informed consent, the representation of suffering, the aestheticization of violence, humanitarian imagery, and the limits of documentary intervention. * Ethical issues in fictional genres, true crime, and reality television: stereotyping, dehumanization, exploitation, classploitation, and the representation of social groups. * Dialogic communication, participatory media, and community media. * Applying media ethics to contemporary case studies.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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unspecified
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Learning outcomes
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The course builds on the knowledge and skills acquired in Mass Communication I and applies them to the fields of media ethics and applied ethics. It introduces the fundamental theoretical, methodological, and professional issues of media ethics and demonstrates possible approaches to resolving ethical dilemmas through case studies drawn from contemporary Czech and international journalism, documentary filmmaking, photography, fictional media genres, reality television, and digital media communication. Students will become familiar with normative theories of the media, theories of the public and the public sphere, professional ethics, the principles of journalistic responsibility, media self-regulation, and the concept of the public interest. Particular emphasis is placed on critiques of the liberal model of the media and on contemporary paradigms of media ethics, including dialogic ethics, the ethics of care, the ethics of responsibility, global humanitarianism, and sensitivity to vulnerable groups. The course develops students' ability to conduct ethical analyses of both media content and professional decision-making. Students will acquire the fundamental decision-making models of applied ethics, with particular attention to the evaluation of facts, values, principles, and loyalties. They will also learn to distinguish between the legal, professional, political, and moral dimensions of media-related ethical dilemmas.
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Prerequisites
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A pre-requisite is to complete Mass Communication I.
KMS/KEMS1
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Assessment methods and criteria
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unspecified
Continuous independent preparation based on assigned readings, study materials, and supplementary online resources. Continuous assessment through quizzes. An oral examination assessing students' knowledge of key concepts, theories, and core literature, as well as their ability to apply the concepts discussed in class to a specific media case. Seminars are delivered in a hybrid format. Consultations are available by prior arrangement via email.
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Recommended literature
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Day, Louis A. (2006). Ethics in Media Communications: Cases and Controversies. xviii, 480 s.. Belmont.
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Garnham, Nicholas. (1986). The Media and the Public Sphere. Leicester, Golding, Peter, Graham Murdock a Philip Schlesinger, eds. Communicating Politics: Mass Communications and the Political Process.
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Christians, Clifford G., Mark Fackler, Kathy Brittain Richardson, Peggy J. Kreshel a Robert H. Woods Jr. (2016). Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning. New York.
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Christians, Clifford G., Theodore L. Glasser, Denis McQuail, Kaarle Nordenstreng a Robert A. White. (2009). Normative Theories of the Media: Journalism in Democratic Societies. Urbana.
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Johannesen, Richard L. The Emerging Concept of Communication as Dialogue. , 1971.
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Klinger, U., Kreiss, D., & Mutsvairo, B. (2023). Platforms, power, and politics: An introduction to political communication in the digital age.
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Koehn, Daryl. (1994). The Ground of Professional Ethics. New York.
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McQuail, D., & Antonínová, H. (2009). Úvod do teorie masové komunikace. Praha.
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REIFOVÁ, I. a kol. (2004). Slovník mediální komunikace. Praha.
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Wishart, E. Journalism ethics: 21 essentials from wars to artificial intelligence. Hong Kong. 2024.
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