Ethics In Media And Entertainment

Abstract

This paper focuses on the topic of ethics in media and entertainment. The aim of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of ethics in the entertainment media. Media ethics includes specific ethical principles and standards of media, including broadcast media, film, theatre, arts, print media and many others. It invokes promoting and defending values such as a universal respect for life and rule of law and legality. The ethics of journalism is one of the most well-defined branches of media ethics. Journalistic ethics tend to dominate media ethics. There are several many sub-topics covered by journalism ethics like news manipulation, truth, conflicting with the law, etc. Ethics of entertainment media includes the depiction of violence and sex, the presence of strong language, fluff or “celebrity news”, product placement, advertising, tattoos or taste, etc. There are many issues in the ethics of media and entertainment which we are going to present in this paper. There are many problems which already had resolved but there are many more which still have to be resolved.

Introduction

The aim and purpose of this paper is to examine problems in the field of media ethics, in order to possibly increase the awareness of the effects of this problem. Research and publications in the field of information ethics has been produced since the 1980s. Life was simple before 1980s or television came about. People either worked or talked. Families and friends would gather around and tell stories or talk about daily events. At times, they would find entertainment from print media. Many people relied on radios when it was introduced and newspapers for information. However, this form of communication was not the best solution when one was trying to quickly obtain news. For example, one may have just heard about an earthquake held in California when it actually happened days before. The difficulty of it all changed once media entertainment was come into process. Today, the entertainment industry offers us more possibilities than ever before to fill our leisure time: Books, music, films and games, which are available any time, any place which makes thanks to the wonders of digitization. But on the same side it has many disadvantages too.

This paper involves Ethics which reflects a society’s notions about the rightness or wrongness of an act and the distinctions between the virtue and the vice. It is often defined as set of principles or a code of moral conduct. Ethical judgments are like that no matter who makes them, they are not often easy, and they are almost certain to strike some of us as perfectly proper while others regard them as wrong-headed, stupid, unfair, and possibly as evidence of intellectual and/or moral decay. Ethics in media communication is one small contribution to this pursuit of ethical knowledge. It offers a systematic approach to moral reasoning by combining ethical theory with the practice of ethics by media professions.

There are many Controversies in Media Ethics which develops multiple perspectives on media ethics issues presenting vast ‘grey areas’. It includes a wide range of subjects, and demonstrates a willingness to tackle the problems raised by new technologies, new media, new politics and new economics. Media ethics concerns right and wrong, good and bad, better and worse actions taken by people working in the field of journalism and mass communication. Media themselves, of course, cannot be ethical or unethical-only workers in the media can. When we deal with media ethics, we are really concerned with standards, media people have and the kinds of actions they take [2].

It is generally concerned with the Issues of moral principles and values as applied to the conduct, roles, and content of the mass media, in particular journalism ethics and standards and marketing ethics; also the field of study. In relation to news coverage it includes issues such as impartiality, objectivity, balance, bias, privacy, and the public interest. More generally, it also includes stereotyping, taste and decency, obscenity, freedom of speech, advertising practices such as product placement, and legal issues such as defamation. On an institutional level it includes debates over media ownership and control, commercialization, accountability, the relation of the media to the political system, issues arising from regulation (e.g. censorship) and deregulation.

Over the years, print media has been dying out so journalists began to report on what is referred to as “Celebrity News”. As more outlets adopt this topic to report on, people become dependent on them. According to Alden Weight, most people know not to completely trust these outlets due to ethical discrepancies, but the issue arises when people who are not as mature or educated find these reports to be completely true. Their ethics are misguided by the media. Entertainment media often questions of our values for artistic and entertainment purposes. Normative ethics is often about moral values, and what kinds should be enforced and protected. In media ethics, these two sides come into conflict. In the name of art, media may deliberately attempt to break with existing norms and shock the audience.

The people of our country are witnesses of a large number of tabloids which publish a variety of lies about public figures, for the sake of exclusive story and good sales. Advertising and entertainment media often make heavy use of stereotypes. Stereotypes may negatively affect people’s perceptions of themselves or promote socially undesirable behavior. The stereotypical portrayals of men, affluence and ethnic groups are examples of major areas of debate. Entertainment media often exploits female bodies by objectifying and de-humanizing them. By doing so, the concept of female bodies being bought and sold becomes common.Media outlets usually use either images or imagery of female bodies to counter negative news that is provided throughout the day.

Axiom “Seeing is Believing” but techniques influence perception and a picture is always an interpretation of reality, not reality itself. For example, the Photo journalists who cover war and disasters confront situations which may shock the sensitivities of their audiences. For example, human remains are rarely scene but the ethical issue is how far one risks shocking an audience’s sensitivities in order to correctly show and fully report the truth. Journalistic ethics may conflict with the law over issues such as the protection of confidential news sources. There is also the question of the extent to which it is ethically acceptable to break the law in order to obtain news. [3] ‘Using today’s high digital technology, a journalist shapes reality and sells it as a product to users, i.e. public opinion, on the market.

Conclusion

This paper concludes that people are generally dissatisfied with the media and their specific content (which is not ethical), it can be concluded that people believe that there are many incompetent people working in media. Don’t deceive an audience that expects your pictures to be accurate representation of a particular quality of reality. The imperative allows exceptions, depending on audience expectations. But: “While art may be manipulative, information may not.”

Permissible is an act when:- the photographer’s intent is to merely make the photo more aesthetically pleasing and not to deceive; and the intended audience recognizes the difference; or the difference does not make audience members think or act in a manner in which they might not otherwise have thought or acted. We can undoubtedly conclude that journalism in this country is interpreted as a major problem, and both media presenters and media consumers are aware of it. We could say that the media life where we all live in, is ruled by anarchy instead of democracy, and that the codes and laws are obeyed and sanctioned rarely. On the one hand, media have ‘no mercy’ in presenting and publishing anything that they stumble upon, persistently and successfully escaping from ethics, driven by the desire for wealth and fame.

References:

• https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=e2MbCAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=reasearch+paper+on+ethics+in+media+and+entertainment&ots=aftH3Vyf52&sig=zHAOnaj1pcoD5GeUKzvR4HjMvsc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=reasearch%20paper%20on%20ethics%20in%20media%20and%20entertainment&f=false
• https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203829912
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_ethics
• https://infoz.ffzg.hr/INFuture/2011/papers/5-03%20Nadrljanski,%20Nadrljanski,%20Buzasi,%20New%20Media%20-%20Ethical%20Issues.pdf