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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, the ethics of care, the Potter Box model, and critiques of the Potter Box. * Profession, professionalism, and the public responsibility of journalism. * Normative theories of the media: libertarian, social responsibility, corporatist, and participatory models; critiques of classical normative media theories. * The public and the public sphere: Habermas, critiques of the deliberative model, multiple publics, social media bubbles, censorship, and self-censorship. * Journalistic ethics: truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, balance, independence, transparency, accountability, and trust. * The public interest, privacy, protection of sources, reporting on vulnerable individuals, and secondary victimisation. * Media self-regulation: codes of ethics, professional associations, press councils, ombudsmen, and editorial guidelines. * Ethics of documentary photography and documentary filmmaking: informed consent, the representation of suffering, the aestheticisation of violence, humanitarian imagery, and the limits of documentary intervention. * Ethical issues in fictional genres, true crime, and reality television: stereotyping, dehumanisation, exploitation, classploitation, and the representation of social groups. * Dialogic communication, participatory media, and community media. * Application of media ethics to contemporary case studies.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Lecture, Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Group work
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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.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to use the fundamental terminology of media ethics and applied ethics. They will be able to explain the major normative theories of the media and critically engage with the concepts of the public, the public sphere, the public interest, objectivity, independence, accountability, self-regulation, and professionalism. Students will be able to identify ethical dilemmas in media practice, distinguish between the facts, values, principles, and loyalties of the relevant stakeholders, and formulate well-reasoned ethical judgments. They will also be able to analyse ethical issues in journalism, documentary filmmaking, photography, fictional media genres, reality television, and digital media within their broader social and cultural contexts.
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Prerequisites
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A pre-requisite is to complete Mass Communication I.
KMS/PEMS1
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Oral exam, Written exam
Regular attendance and active participation in class are required. Students are expected to prepare continuously by studying the assigned readings and course materials. Ongoing quizzes. Assessment is based on an oral examination that evaluates students' knowledge of key concepts, theories, and required literature, as well as their ability to apply the concepts discussed in the course to a specific media case. 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. Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning. 10th ed. 405 s. New York. 2016.
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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, Denis. Úvod do teorie masové komunikace. 2009.
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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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