BC 192 Notes

Ethics in Broadcasting
Nov 15, 2013

ETHICS IN GENERAL
What are ethics?

Ethics
 Greek. Ethos or ethicos
o Character/custom
 Study or assessment of a person’s or a group’s standards of right and wrong, and of good and bad
 Concerned with social norms

Morality/ Moral
 Latin. Mos or moris
o Customs

A person’s ethics is equal to his moral philosophy

Ethics – theory of good and bad, of right and wrong

Morality – practice of applying the theory of ethics
Ethics (James Svara)

 Well based standards of right and wrong, that prescribes what humans ought to do in relation to his
duties, principles, specific virtues or benefits to society
o DUTIES
 Behavior expected of persons who occupy certain roles
 i.e the obligations taken on when assuming a role or a profession
o VIRTUES
 Qualities that define what a good person is; moral excellence
o PRINCIPLES
 Fundamental truths that form the basis for behavior, “kinds of action that are right or
obligatory”
o BENEFITS TO SOCIETY
 Actions that produce the greatest good for the greatest number

Morality vs. Etiquette

 Etiquette
o Norms of correct conduct in polite society

Morality vs. Law

 Law
o Not all legal actions are morally right and vice versa
o Laws tend to reflect a society’s ethics but not reflect morality

Morality vs. Professional Codes

 Professional Codes
o Rules that are supposed to govern the members of certain professions
 o Tend to be vague
o Tend to encompass the ideals of the profession

What is good and bad?

What is right and wrong?
What are ethics?

Different societies have their own respective notions of what is right or wrong in their own contexts

Bernard Gert’s
10 Core Ethical Rules of Common Morality
1. Don’t kill 6. Don’t deceive
2. Don’t cause pain 7. Keep your promise
3. Don’t disable 8. Don’t cheat
4. Don’t deprive of freedom 9. Obey the law
5. Don’t deprive of pleasure 10. Do your duty

Ethical Principles
 “Do No Harm” principle
 Principle of fidelity
 Principle of autonomy
 Principle of confidentiality
 Principle of lawfulness

Where did ethical notions come from?

 Man as a rational being
 Religion
o Provides believers with a worldview
 Ethical relativism
o Function of what a society believes
 Moral principles
o Ethical notions are inherent in each person
o Acceptance that having principles is an intellectual act
o Not limited to knowing but also the desire to follow through
 Personal values
o Includes values, ideas, and aspirations that we use to shape our lives by not just following rules

Why do we need to have ethics?

 To involve a complex process about how a person feels about himself in relation to others to achieve
harmony

CONSEQUENTIAL VS. NON CONSEQUENTIAL

Consequential
 Moral rightness of actions is determined by the consequences or the results
EGOISM

 “The end justifies the means”

UTILITARIANISM

 Greatest possible balance of good over bad

Non-consequential
 Moral rightness of an action may be determined by other factors aside from its consequences or results

KANTIAN ETHICS

 Moral rules can be known as reason alone

 Moral reasoning is not based on consequences or results
 Actions are not done not because of their likely results but out of good will

PRIMA FACIE PRINCIPLES

 Accepted to be true until debunked

 People see themselves being under moral obligations until proven otherwise
 One’s life is intertwined with other people’s lives
 There is happiness in the fulfillment of function as a human being with moral obligations

November 22, 2013

JUSTICE
Aristotle

 Good for human beings is happiness

 Happiness consists in humans by doing functions
 To treat equals equally and unequals unequally
 Justice demands rectification because of the disturbance in the benefit that an individual should enjoy
 Restoring benefits to the injured party by inflicting appropriate harm or demand payment for damages

Robert Nozik

 If you are enjoying your rights or property, these properties should have been entitled to the individual in
the first place because otherwise justice will take away these entitlements from the individual
 Entitlements should be awarded legally
 Justice demands that the these entitlements should be protected

John Rawls

 Justice means all social primary goods should be distributed equally unless unequal distribution of these
primary goods are to the advantage or benefit of the least favored in the society

PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE
Liberty

 Everyone has an equal right or access to whatever is the prevailing equality in the society
 Equality of opportunity

 Social and economic inequalities in the organization

 Everyone should have equal opportunities in social and economic aspects

Difference

 Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that the least favored should have advantage

Why do we need to have ethics?

Babor (?)

1) Because we want to win the good opinion of others concerning our self-image
2) Because we want to refrain from troubles which would result from immorality
3) Because we are persons therefore we exist in the collectivity of other persons

Because intermittently unethical lifestyle can lead to many pitfalls

i.e loss of credibility, loss of trust, undesirable consequences
The importance of the Moral Code
Jose P. Laurel

Ethics Triangle
Svara

When do we need to apply ethical considerations?

Not all situations have ethical dimensions.

A situation that has an ethical dimension involves:

 The creation, prevention, or distribution of harms or benefits

 That are significant importance to human beings
 Who have a right to have their interests taken into account in the creation, prevention, or distribution of
those harms or benefits

How do we make ethical decisions?

When making decisions with an ethical dimension, strive to be:

 Objective
o Describe the situation from the point of view of each person who has an ethical interest in the
situation
o Have the big picture from different perspectives
o Triangulation
 Impartial
o One has to know the people who have special interests in the decision
 Prepared to justify your decision
o Consider the benefits of each course of action
Principle of equal consideration of interests
Peter Singer

 In making judgments and decisions and actions, one should keep the interest of others are no less than
one’s own
 One should implement an ethical point of view, uphold ethical principles, and compromise as little as
possible

Ethical problem-solving model

I. Description

 Clarify facts and asses all parties involve and have stakes in the outcome of the decision
 Stakeholder analysis

II. Analysis

 What is the duty in line of the situation in front of the person

 Master obligations and responsibilities relative to one’s position
 Analyze situation to each ethical approach

III. Decision

 Choose the best alternative

 Provide the best justification to the decision

MEDIA ETHICS IN GENERAL

Communication

 Latin. Communis
o To share
 Meaningful exchange of thoughts through signs between persons

Mass Communication

 Process whereby a person, a group of people, or organization creates messages through a medium to a
large and heterogeneous mixture of audiences
 Purpose: society’s needs, adhere to human right to free speech

The 1987 Philippine Constitution

Article III, Section 4
No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress and grievances.

Universal declaration of human rights

Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.
International covenant on civil and political rights
Article 19

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive,
and impart information and ideas of all kinds regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, or in print, in
the form of art, or through any other media of his choice
3. 3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and
responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are
provided by law and are necessary:
a) for respect of the rights or reputations of others
b) for the protection for national security or of public order or of public health or morals

The 1987 Philippine Constitution

Article II section 2
Section 2. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy adopts the generally accepted
principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice,
freedom, cooperation and amity with all nations.

Communication and media ethics provide standards to mitigate if not totally prevent harm

What is harm?
Harm involves thwarting, defeating, or setting back an interest including; property, privacy, confidentiality,
friendship, reputation, health and career (Joel Feinberg)

Liberty-limiting principles

Basis as to why the freedom of speech and of the press are not absolute

 The Harm Principle(John Stuart Mill)

 The Offense Principle
o If an act offends another person then that action may be prohibited
 Principle of Legal Paternalism
o Obligation to protect others from harm
 Principle of Legal Moralism
o A freedom may be restricted because it is simply immoral
o Theology as basis

A Checklist for Moral Decision Making

Thomas Bivins

1. What is the ethical issue/problem?

2. What immediate facts have the most bearing on the ethical decision you must render in this case?
Include this list any potential economic, social or political pressures.
3. Who are the claimants in this issue and in what way are you obligated to each of them (list affected by
your decision)
o define your claimants based on the following questions:
o a promise/contract you made (implied or express)?  fidelity
o a wrong you committed….
4. List at least alternative courses of action. For each alternative ask the following questions:
o What are the best and worst case scenarios if you choose this alternative
o Will anyone be harmed if this alternative is chosen, how will they be harmed/
 o Would honoring ….
5. Consider the following ethical guidelines and ask yourself whether they either support or reject any f your
alternatives.
6. ……
7. Defend your decision in the form of a letter addressed to your most adamant detractor.

Are we in a profession?
MAIN FEATURES:
1. Extensive training;
2. The training involves a significant intellectual component;
3. The result of the training provides an important service to society.

SECONDARY FEATURES:
1. Credentials
2. Membership in professional organizations
3. Autonomy among members

Nov. 29, 2013

Journalist Code of Ethics (Philippines)

Formulated by Philippine Press Institute and National Press Club
http://www.eyeonethics.org/journalist-code-of-ethics-in-asia/journalists-code-of-ethics-philippines/

Dec. 6, 2013

Standards of Trade Practices and Conduct in the Advertising Industry

Formulated by ADBOARD
http://adboard.amplified360.com/sites/default/files/STANDARDS OF TRADE PRACTICES%26CONDUCT MANUAL.pdf.

Broadcast Code of the Philippines 2007

Formulated by KBP

The Role of Broadcast Media in Culture and Values

Dong Puno

How to get airwaves/broadcast

Legislative Franchise
 RA/Law
NTC - Certificate of Public Convenience
 Provisional Authority
 Permit to import, permit to purchase etc.