Course Syllabus

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 DIGITAL MEDIA ETHICS   RTV 4930 Spring 2015

 From Angela Long  angela.long@dit.ie  or along7@ufl.edu  Skype: alongcomm

 SYLLABUS

Objectives:  Ethics is very big right now - professional ethics, business ethics, medical ethics and of course media ethics. So is the internet.The aim of this course is to get students thinking about standards and social responsibilities in online communication. This applies to journalism, public relations, broadcast, website provision, and marketing. What is proper and acceptable behaviour regarding, for example, intrusion into people’s private lives? The News International/Murdochs scandal of 2011 brought these issues into sharp focus on both sides of the Atlantic. Another question is the extent of permissible interference with people’s financial affairs. In the open world of the internet, still evolving and largely unregulated, what is the right thing to do?

 This course involves case studies, discussion, and deliberation, as well as reading and listening to fundamentals of ethical thought. Moral philosophy is a basis for the exploration of issues, but also important are developed and developing cultural norms. We’ll also consider how different standards can apply in different societies or communities. And the overwhelming role that technology and its abilities play in contemporary communication practice will be explored.

             Through the class, students will:

  • Explore traditional ethical standards, and the different problems today with vast audiences and lack of regulation on the internet
  • Discuss and deliberate on appropriate action when an online ethical problem arises
  • Identify ethical dilemmas in journalism, broadcast and commerce situations
  • Appreciate ethical challenges for content-providers when posting material
  • Explore the differences between visual, audio and written material when posting
  • Make and justify decisions about ethical dilemmas

 By the end of the semester, students will be expected to have developed these skills:

  • Evidence of critical understanding of ethics and their application to journalism and other communications professions
  • Understanding of differences between communication in the online and offline environments
  • Knowledge and analysis of regulation of journalism/PR/video industries
  • Awareness of current codes of behaviour for media professionals, and how these fit in the online environment

 What we will be studying/talking about

 Course plan week-by-week (15 sessions). Please note that this is a dynamic subject, and although the ethical background is constant, some sessions might update and change to reflect what is happening in the world – for example the latest Twitter scandal or intrusion into personal social media.

 

Week 1:

The structure of cyberspace – comparison with ‘non-virtual’ world in terms of personal interaction, collective intelligence, social mores. Reminder that many people still are more comfortable with ‘offline’ scenarios and encounters. The rapid evolution of a digital world, and its implications for personal interactions.

  Wk 2:

Ethics and practical philosophy – the Greek tradition, the Asian tradition. Duty ethics and consequentialists. Modern thinkers who have been very influential – Rousseau, Hobbes, Nietzsche, Rawls – and how their thought has been translated into how we behave.

 Wk 3: Problems for ‘broadcast’ media (all platforms): privacy, accuracy, free speech, respect for grief, commercial sensitivity, transparency.

 

Wk 4: Ethics for journalists: practical considerations, two-way street with the audience, loss of gatekeeper status (or have they?) Examination of codes such as SPJ, NUJ. Fact v. comment. Public image of media professionals. Has the internet changed these, by making conversation more two way? Websites of organizations that ‘watch’ media and PR. Examination of major codes for professionals (eg, SPJ) and discussion on how they should or could be revised to take account of online situation.

 Wk 5:  Ethics for public relations and marketing officers: trust and credibility – how can this be established in cyberspace? Openness, honesty, loyalty. Potted history of public relations ethics from Ivy Lee at start of 20th century. Crisis-management – what happens when your product turns out to be poisonous?

 

[ASSIGNMENT ONE DUE February 13 2015 ]  

 Wk 6:  The problem of privacy. The online world is ubiquitous, on all the time, everywhere. With the perhaps inadvertent connivance of commercial interests and public authorities, many details on all of us are held online. And then there’s our social media. How does the modern communications professional view individual privacy?

 

 Wk 7: Free speech: everyone has a platform – everyone can broadcast. How should we be wary of this power, and while respecting the First Amendment, not doing harm to innocent or vulnerable people by allowing extremist opinions to circulate? Twitter and texting – can ‘the rules’ apply? Free speech? The brevity with which messages are conveyed is a good discipline, but can lead to misunderstanding and inappropriate truncation. Unconsidered commentary is a bad thing, but is it our right?

Wk 8:  Facebook and Social Media: where are they now? How have they been used for work and play? What is legitimate use of such networks for both news-gathering and marketing? How can we avoid using ‘private’ material on Faceboom and other social media, if our peers and competitors are?

 Wk 9: ETC – or, Emails/Texts/Cellphones. Apps. How communication on each of these should be handled, considering both the journalistic and commercial/marketing viewpoints.

 Wk 10:  Who controls the digital world, anyway? We consider the roles of ICANN, the ISPs, government, the emergence of a two-speed internet, digital access as a human right, the democratisation by digital means.

 

    [ASSIGNMENT TWO DUE March 13 2015]     

 

Wk 11: Picture power: some of the niceties of ethical image use. How close is too close? Children [also could be a separate session, much evolving thought about use of children in media presentations generally].

 Wk 12: Wikileaks.We consider in detail the case study of Wikileaks, from its innocent beginnings to the storm that blew up over the 250,000 cable release starting in 2010. Is Julian Assange a journalist?

 Wk 13: Blogging and its limitations/opportunities, as opposed to the conventional website. Chatrooms, ‘flaming’ and ‘trolling’ - how to deal with. Plagiarism.

 OPTIONAL Wk 14: Artificial Intelligence: how bots, automated responses, virtual reality, are changing the scene for communications professionals.

 OPTIONAL Wk 15: Self-regulation the answer? How have entities tasked with making media professionals behave fare in the ‘real world’? Is community pressure great enough? Final overview: the ‘Slow Media’ movement and the future of online usage.  Also REVISION

 

[FINAL AND MAJOR ASSIGNMENT DUE  Saturday April 18 2015, 5pm Gainesville time]

 

Class Conduct and Contact: Class participation takes place online. Lectures, including video, will be available on Canvas. Online discussions will be a regular and compulsory feature of the course. Students will be expected to post comments and questions to the site and keep your eyes and ears open for current events that may relate to class discussions. The lecturer will be available by email outside of discussion times.

Readings:  The required text for the course is Media Ethics - Key Principles for Responsible Practice, by Patrick Lee Plaisance (2010). Students should also have read the Society for Professional Journalists code. A reading list is available. Although the reading is not compulsory, it is recommended.

And bookmark these websites:  www.cjr.org, http://pewresearch.org/ They have regular material on ethical and related issues, and the lecturer will make specific recommendations for articles.

Other readings/viewings will be recommended as we go along. Articles and academic papers that relate to particular sub-themes will be posted in the e-learning area.

 

Discussion posts: Each student will be expected to post a comment or question to the e-learning Discussion site in relation to at least three threads over the course of the semester. Your comments and questions will be graded based on the extent to which they contribute to or advance the discussion. So for each thread on which you post, you’ll get minimal points if your post(s) merely re-state(s) what someone else already has said.

 

Tests/Assignments:  

There will be two small assignments, during semester, and one major presentation at the end. The fiinal deadline is Friday April 17.

In addition you will receive points for contribution to online discussions and for posting to the e-learning site. As this is a remote course, it is more important than ever to keep people involved when we cannot see them. On the plus side, you can think more carefully about what you want to contribute than is possible in the cut and thrust of class discussion!

 

Good luck and I hope we have an enjoyable and stimulating course.   

 

                                                                                                                     

Angela

 

Along7@ufl.edu

 

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due