Media Ethics Goes to the Movies

(Hardback)

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Certain films seem to encapsulate perfectly the often abstract ethical situations that confront the media, from truth-telling and sensationalism to corporate control and social responsibility. Using these movies--including Ace in the Hole, All the President's Men, Network, and Twelve Angry Men--as texts, authors Howard Good and Michael Dillon demonstrate that, when properly framed and contextualized, movies can be a powerful lens through which to examine media practices. Moreover, cinema can present human moral conduct for evaluation and analysis more effectively than a traditional case study can. By presenting ethical dilemmas and theories within a dramatic framework, Media Ethics Goes to the Movies offers a unique perspective on what it means for media professionals to be both technically competent and morally informed.

Reviews

[o]ffers a unique and effective approach to the topic of media ethics, using film to elucidate complex moral circumstances....Professors of journalism, both print and broadcast, should find ample inspiration for lecture material from this book. Each chapter includes questions for discussion, which should also prove valuable in the classroom.... Media Ethics Goes to the Movies is an excellent resource for instructors looking for an inventive way to teach and discuss ethical concepts and in turn, as the authors hope, contribute to the moral growth of tomorrow's media professionals.-American Journalism Historians Association
[t]he call for positive moral values by media personnel is a running theme, throughout this work, probably best summed by their pharase, "Moral tragedy is never more than just one bad decision away "(p.180). This thoughtful book may help increase the buffer between the two extremes for young, impressionable journalism students.-Jounral of Mass Media Ethics
"offers a unique and effective approach to the topic of media ethics, using film to elucidate complex moral circumstances....Professors of journalism, both print and broadcast, should find ample inspiration for lecture material from this book. Each chapter includes questions for discussion, which should also prove valuable in the classroom.... Media Ethics Goes to the Movies is an excellent resource for instructors looking for an inventive way to teach and discuss ethical concepts and in turn, as the authors hope, contribute to the moral growth of tomorrow's media professionals."-American Journalism Historians Association
"the call for positive moral values by media personnel is a running theme, throughout this work, probably best summed by their pharase, "Moral tragedy is never more than just one bad decision away "(p.180). This thoughtful book may help increase the buffer between the two extremes for young, impressionable journalism students."-Jounral of Mass Media Ethics
"[t]he call for positive moral values by media personnel is a running theme, throughout this work, probably best summed by their pharase, "Moral tragedy is never more than just one bad decision away "(p.180). This thoughtful book may help increase the buffer between the two extremes for young, impressionable journalism students."-Jounral of Mass Media Ethics
"[o]ffers a unique and effective approach to the topic of media ethics, using film to elucidate complex moral circumstances....Professors of journalism, both print and broadcast, should find ample inspiration for lecture material from this book. Each chapter includes questions for discussion, which should also prove valuable in the classroom.... Media Ethics Goes to the Movies is an excellent resource for instructors looking for an inventive way to teach and discuss ethical concepts and in turn, as the authors hope, contribute to the moral growth of tomorrow's media professionals."-American Journalism Historians Association

Author Bio

HOWARD GOOD is the coordinator of the Journalism Program at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is the author of, among other works, The Drunken Journalist, Girl Reporter, and The Journalist as Autobiographer. MICHAEL J. DILLON is a Professor of Communications at Duquesne University.