Enforcing Media Codes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

□The longstanding debates aver how to enforce codes of ethics reflect a serious flaw in understanding the nature of “accountability.” Fuzziness over that basic notion has allowed the quantity of codes to expand, without any improvement in their quality or in media behavior. The essay maintains that we repeat the same arguments today that moralistic journalists did in the 1920s, because we lack intellectual precision over such issues as internal vis a vis external controls, ethics vis a vis First Amendment freedoms, and different forms and degrees of accountability to government, to fellow professionals, and to the general public. Self-imposed media codes—with enforcement provisions—and thorough analysis of social ethics are recommended.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)14-21
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Mass Media Ethics
Volume1
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 1985

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Philosophy

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