Ethics and Mass Communication
The choices made by media organizations about what stories to cover, what images to show, who to interview, what sound bytes to air, and how to present information can change the way you perceive ethical issues. Media messages may stir conflicts with your own values or challenge you to think differently about information. In this Discussion, you will compare media messages about two ethical viewpoints.
To prepare for this Discussion:
- Choose a discussion thread based on the topics available this week.
- Choose two media events—one from a local source and one from an international source—covering your chosen topic. Examples of international sources include the BBC, British newspapers such as The Guardian, magazines such as The Economist, or newspapers with an international focus, such as The Christian Science Monitor.
- Determine how cultural influences, personal morals, and ethics affect the way you perceive the events.
- Examine whether your morals and ethics are, in turn, influenced by the media.
- Consider how the two forms of media your examined could change your ethical perspective about your chosen topic.
For this Discussion, choose one thread from the choices listed this week. Each thread is limited to a maximum number of students, based on class size. A thread will close if the limit is reached. If a thread is closed to new posters, select from the open threads. You will post both your initial post and your response post in the same thread.