Ethics in the Media

When analyzing ethics in the media, one must look at the codes that they rely on that have been created by organizations that they believe and trust. There are numerous forms of ethics that one may follow, and some of them aren’t as clear-cut as one may think. Take deontological approaches to ethics, there are five theories that encompass this type of ethics. They deal with command, divine right of kings, secular command, laissez-faire approach to ethics, and applying universal principles. Each one of these theories deals with different aspects to life, but they all follow some form of rules and order. 

Teleological ethics is concerned with more of the consequences of a person’s actions. These ethics look at Pragmatic, Utilitarian, and Social-Responsibility theories. The Pragmatic theory asks people to look at experiences they have had in order to determine what the consequences of a future action might entail. The Utilitarian theory deals with ethical actions help more people than they can hurt. The Social- Responsibility theory explains that by the positive effort of actions from humans, society will benefit from these good actions. When looking at Situation ethics, researchers gather as much data they can pertaining to a situation and then make a decision of the particular principle not solely on facts of a situation.