FINAL EXAM: CHAPTER 14
What is prior restraint and what does that have to do with the Pentagon Papers?
1. Prior restraint: the power of the government to prevent the publication or broadcast of expression. U.S. law and tradition make the use of prior restraint relatively rare, but there have been a number of important efforts by the government to squelch content before dissemination. The Supreme Court ruled that freedom from prior restraint was a general, not an absolute, principle. Two of the four exceptions it listed were in times of war when national security was involved and when the public order would be endangered by the incitement to violence and overthrown by force of orderly government 2. The first, involving the New York Times, dealt with national security in times of war. The New York Times began a publication of The Pentagon Papers, which included an analysis of the conduct of the Vietnam War. The National Security Council stamped it top secret. Believing that this was an improper restriction of the public's right to know, NSC staff member Daniel Ellsberg gave copies to the Times -June 30: The Supreme Court ordered the government to halt its restraint of the Times's and other papers' right to publish the Pentagon Papers
What is ethics, metaethics, normative ethics and applied ethics?
1. ethics: rules of behavior or moral principles that guide actions in given situations 2. metaethics: fundamental cultural values; but as valuable as they are for self-knowledge, metaethics provide only the broadest foundation for the sorts of ethical decisions people make daily. They define the basic starting points for moral reasoning 2: normative ethics: generalized theories, rules, and principles of ethical or moral behavior -ex: The various media industry codes of ethics or standards of good practice are examples of normative ethics. 3. applied ethics: the application of metaethics and normative ethics to very specific situations
Who is a moral agent? What are six sets of individual or group interests that conflict when it comes to ethical conflicts? Pages 367 - 368.
1. moral agent: in an ethical dilemma, the person making the decision 2. The interests of the object of the act: a particular person or group is likely to be affected by media practitioners' actions. 1. The interests of the moral agent's individual conscience; media professionals must live with their decisions. 2. The interests of the object of the act; a particular person or group is likely to be affected by media practitioners' actions. 3. The interests of financial supporters; someone pays the bills that allow the station to broadcast or the newspaper or magazine to publish. 4. The interests of the institution; media professionals have company loyalty, pride in the organization for which they work. 5. The interests of the profession; media practitioners work to meet the expectations of their colleagues; they have respect for the profession that sustains them. 6. The interests of society; media professionals, like all of us, have a social responsibility. Because of the influence their work can have, they may even have greater responsibilities than do many other professionals.
