Global Media Ethics

GJ 312 Global Media Ethics covers both the broader field of media ethics, which regards overall ethical and philosophical issues arising from media communication on a general level, and the narrower field of journalism ethics, which regards the question of ethics and good behaviour in professional media work.

The course will deal with issues in meta-ethics as well as in applied ethics. Major ethical frameworks will be addressed, including utilitarian, virtue, discourse, communitarian and Christian ethics. One of the basic issues in the course is the question of universals and differences in global journalism and media ethics, in the light of religious and worldview diversity. Examples will be given of professional approaches in different societies and under different conditions.

In applied ethics, the course will consider codes and mechanisms for acountability, as well as specific areas of difficulty, such as fairness, privacy, independence, the handling of sources, harm, misinformation and others. Attention will be given to new challenges emerging from new developments like social media and AI.

Knowledge

The student:

• can identify and explain major approaches to media ethics
• can explain common concepts used in the global media ethics literature
• has knowledge of various cultural-specific ethical frameworks

Skills

The student:

• can discuss universal and cultural-specific aspects of media ethics and argue for a preferred approach
• is able to use ethical reasoning to consider different dilemmas that may arise in media practice and argue for a preferred approach

General competence

The student:

• can identify and discuss ethical approaches to the media and journalism in a given society, between societies, and from a global perspective

3GJ312-1: Theoretical foundation

The first section of the course treats fundamental issues related to media and journalism ethics, including the problem of ethical relativism and the discussion of universals and particulars in media ethics.

3GJ312-2: Global experiences and alternative frameworks

The second section of the course discusses ethical experiences from various media societies around the world. Particular attention is given to identifying and assessing proposed cultural-specific frameworks relating to journalism and media ethics.

3GJ312-3: Current issues

The third section of the course focuses on practical ethical issues emanating from the contemporary media situation. Emphasis is placed on issues pertaining to digital media and citizen participation; global crisis and conflict reporting; and the debate concerning misinformation.

The assessment of 3GJ312 comprises two parts:

1. 3000 word written assignment/paper (30% of the final grade)
2. 30 minute oral exam (70% of the final grade)

1. Written assignment: All tools are allowed, but using generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT to write the assignment or parts of the assignment is not allowed.

2. Oral exam: None