Media Ethical Responsibility to the Truth
Media ethical responsibility to the truth is argued in a number of moral theories such as relativism, ethical theory, and deontology. According to deontology, media has a duty of spreading unbiased and truthful content to the mass. The approach adds, in the event a publication is made, it should be within the thresholds of ethics and truth (Jacquette, 2016). If an editor swerves an original interview story to an edition that suits him, such an editor is considered ethically wrong.
Relativism Theory
On the other hand, relativism theory enforces that media publishers should learn that morals and ethics differ from one region to the other. For media to stick to the truth the content publisher should fathom what is deliberated as right and truthful to the area intended to receive the content of publication (Akyazı, 2018). Relativism maintains that media has a responsibility of holding honest information exclusively on critical pillars such as marriage, incest, genocide and polygamy (Hindman, 2017). When presenting publications of terrorism, slavery, murder and rape, relativism preserves that the media is responsible for upholding the morally incorrect views of the majority of the societies.
Ethical Egoism Theory
Ethical egoism theory is not a concession in the argument of the media response to the truth. The theory's arguments center on individual's feeling about a content presented by the media and not whether the publication is factual or not (Christians et al., 2015). Content is consequently truthful or erroneous basing on the recipients’ sensation towards the publication thus media has a responsibility of considering these factors to present truthful information.
Virtue Ethics Theory
Media good deeds and personal character are presented virtue ethics theory in attempts to state the media responsibility to the truth. The approach reinstates that the media should avoid deliberate distortion of information and should only publish a well-evaluated content to present accurate information.
References
Akyazı, A. (2018). The reflection of ethical principles of press to the internet media. Journal of Media Critiques [JMC], 3(12).
Christians, C. G., Fackler, M., Richardson, K., Kreshel, P., " Woods, R. H. (2015). Media ethics: Cases and moral reasoning. London: Routledge.
Hindman, M. (2017). 9 journalism ethics and digital audience data. Remaking the News: Essays on the Future of Journalism Scholarship in the Digital Age, 177.
Jacquette, D. (2016). Journalistic ethics: Moral responsibility in the media. London: Routledge.
