topic: How should we approach ethics in relation to new technologies? Explain using the debate between Singer and Dorsher (chapter 6 textbook).
Singer\’s Debate: \”An interactive network, to which anyone can contribute and in which information is exchanged rather than simply delivered, creates ethical issues that go beyond those faced by professionals working in traditional media environments.\”
\”Different ethics for interactive networks?\” Singer
Some key ideas:
Honesty : Truth-telling: a core principle for \’traditional\’ journalism
\”It is both feasible and ethically desirable to give all users both opportunity and encouragement to contribute to an online story\”
Truth: \”a marketplace of ideas\”
what prevails among various competing ideas
Respect for others(digital media) : verify the information before publishing it
Accountability(digital media) : we need to \’foster trust actively, not just demand it\” |
two ways to achieve this:1,Personal disclosure 2,Provide supporting evidence for what you create
Networks make journalists more exposed to criticism.
Dorsher\’s Debate: \”Ethics transcends media technologies and methods, so developments such as convergence journalism, citizen journalism, blogs, and multimedia mobile phones require little if any rethinking of long-standing ethical principles or guidelines.\”
\”Little, if any, rethinking\” of old ethics needed…\” Dorsher
Some key ideas:
\”Classical ethics\” are up to the new media challenges.
It\’s citizen\’s role to police citizen journalists.
Convergence journalism: As part of a network, your feedback helps improving the efficiency of a new technology/ new system
Hegemony is inevitable, but not necessarily unethical.
