The impact of ethics on media and press theory

This chapter discusses whether ethics has to be included for media and press theories to be complete. The issue of ethics and media theory has its roots in the Enlightenment. Value-free experimentalism in Enlightenment terms has defined the theory and practice of mainstream social science until today. The chapter argues that only a reintegration of research practice with the moral order provides an adequate alternative. The press theory of social responsibility, and two other media theories (cultural studies and sociological propaganda), demonstrate the validity of making ethics front and center. These theories, driven as they are by ethics, have the dynamic quality of responding to needs and struggles of everyday life instead of having a preoccupation with methods. The chapter recommends that we assess media and press theories not only on the grounds of their empirical validity, but also on the strength of their contributions to ethics.