Proponents of professional ethics recognize the importance of theory but also know that the field of ethics is best understood through real-world applications. This book introduces important ethical concepts through the lives of major thinkers ranging from Aristotle to Ayn Rand, John Stuart Mill to the Dalai Lama. Some two dozen contributors approach media ethics from five perspectives altruistic, egoistic, autonomous, legalist, and communitarian and use real people as examples to convey ethical concepts as something more than mere abstractions....

Media Ethicsuses original case studies and commentaries about actual media experiences to impel readerss to think analytically about ethical situations in mass communication. Aiming to facilitate and enhance readers' ethical awareness, this market-leading text provides a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical principles of ethical philosophies. Media Ethics introduces the Potter Box (which uses four dimensions of moral analysis: definitions, values, principles and loyalties) to provide a framework for uncovering the important steps in moral reasoning for analyzing the cases that follow. Focusing on a wide spectrum of ethical issues facing media practitioners, the cases in this Eighth Edition include issues in journalism, broadcasting, advertising, public relations and entertainment....