Strategically Communicating

How do we construct an ethical framework for media that both reflects the values and norms of our culture as well as the ability to adapt to future advancements in media that further change the field?

Stephen J.A Ward boldly examines this question and offers a comprehensive framework solution in Radical Media Ethics, A Global Approach. Ward explains, the field of Journalism is being radically and fundamentally changed due to new forms of media and technology. This “new media era” is most prominently defined by immediacy, transparency, partiality and non-professional “citizen journalists” submitting stories. Ward contends that values inherently represented by this “new media era” are contradictory to values that were embodied in the previous era of journalism.

One example is the definition of “accuracy” in an era where stories and information can be instantaneously updated. In dissecting the values and makeup of our global media ethics, scholars like Tsetsura & Valentini have pointed to personal, environmental and professional values and how each of these interact with one another to offer explanation for our current ethical framework. In bridging our new media era and past eras, Ward presents several imperatives to act as the basis of a new set of media ethics. Ward poses practical questions and discussion points to serve as drivers in future dialogue about the new media ethics guidelines.

As future generations of media professionals and scholars are posed with the challenge of finding a framework for our new media era, all facets of conversations will be fundamentally important to guide this discussion.