AN UNSOLVED PUZZLE: MEDIA AND ETHICS

Mukesh Devrari 

Media is a practice. It deals with society. Like any other practice, it is also guided by certain ethics. But before dealing with media ethics one must answer 'what is ethics?' and 'what is media?'. Ethics is a form of inquiry concerned with the process of finding rational justification for our actions when the values that we hold come into conflict. Media simply means all means of communication, which makes mass communication possible like radio, television, newspaper, internet etc.

It is important to develop an understanding of ethics before dwelling into the concept of media ethics. The literal meaning of ethics is ‘to study what is morally right and what is wrong, the system of accepted beliefs, which control behaviour, especially such a system based on morals’. Ethics also mean the study of choices between good and evil, truth and falsehood, virtue and vice. The word 'ethics' is different from 'morals'. Morality means ‘standards for good or bad character and behaviour.’ It also means ‘the standards of good or bad behaviour, fairness, honestly etc. which each person believes in, rather than laws.’ All these are dictionary meaning. 

In philosophy, the term ethics carries a lot more weight than morals. Morals are narrow in scope and nature. Study of ethics shapes the morals in each epoch. One can insert Lacanian symbolic order here. Inquiry in the field ethics shapes this symbolic order by denting real order in each epoch. Thinkers have dealt with the concept of ethics over the centuries.

Aristotle, Emanuel Kant and J. S. Mill have considerable influence in the study of ethics. Each one of them has described ethics in a unique way. Theorizing in the ethics convinces the human race to ask questions and refine the human practices in the light of new knowledge and understanding. Scholars of media can analyze the journalism practices in the purview developed by these eminent scholars.   

Kant describes it in a unique way. He was a deontologist. Deon is a Greek word, which means duty. He kept rationality and liberty at centre of human activities. According to Kant, ‘human capacity to reason enables us to know our duties and liberty enables us to act upon them. Perhaps Kant has explained how ethics has come into existence.

One of the key claims by Kant is that no action is good or bad. It is only the intention, which matters. Ethics is rational and logical. It can have universal application. Morality is more often rooted in convention, custom and culture. In short, Kant says no action is right or wrong. No words are right or wrong. They do not carry any inherent meaning in themselves. It is only the intention, with which they have been performed matters. Then he also added a caveat into it, but as human beings are rational animals, they must ask themselves what if everyone on earth adopts their method. Will this society be a better place then?

J.S. Mill suggested that the greatest good for the greatest number of people is the sole criteria for judging human actions. Mills argued, ‘all action must be evaluated on the basis of overall pleasure they produce. Virtue is also desired as a pleasing pursuit of more refined individuals.’

Niccolo Machiavelli in his seminal work claimed ‘the ends justify means’. However, it is contrary to Gandhi’s teaching who taught this nation ends never justify means. During the Indian independence struggle, he fought for throwing the British Empire out of the country but he never supported hating or harming them in any manner. He dismissed violence even as a tool to fight against evil.  

Which is an ethical media practice? Which is not?  It depends on reasons supporting and opposing it. 

Books Referred- 

Media Ethics: Truth fairness Objectivity - Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practice - Patric Lee Plaisance
Introduction to Mass Communication -Keval J. Kumar

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