Explorations in Global Media Ethics

Studies of global media and journalism have repeatedly returned to discussions of ethics. This book highlights the difficulty that journalists encounter when establishing appropriate ethical practices and marks the pressing importance of global media ethics as a subject of current debate. A wide range of contributors – both scholars and practitioners of journalism – identify how changes in journalism practice, developments in new media technologies, legal regulations, and shifting patterns of ownership all play a role in creating ethical tensions for journalists, with some chapters in the book suggesting practical solutions to this pertinent issue. The growing need to faithfully represent other diverse cultural groups is also considered, with certain chapters discussing the impact that human rights, freedom and justice have upon journalistic decision making.

Explorations in Global Media Ethics recognises that, with the escalation of globalisation and a public striving for honest quality media, journalists around the world face an increasing pressure to comply with and simultaneously satisfy diverse ethical practices at both a local and a more global level. The book sympathises with the position of the journalist and calls for greater consideration of his ambiguous role.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Journalism Studies.

Muhammad Ayish is currently on leave as a media advisor at the National Media Council in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He holds a doctoral degree in international communication and public diplomacy from the University of Minnesota, USA. He has authored/co-authored three books on Arab media and published over 60 articles in international journals on Arab broadcasting, women and media, and political communication.

Shakuntala Rao is a Professor at the State University of New York, USA and has published extensively in Communication and interdisciplinary journals on South Asian journalism postcolonial theory, and media ethics. She received her PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.