Running Head: MEDIA'S RESPONSIBILITY 1 MEDIA'S RESPONSIBILITY 4 Media's Responsibility Name Institution Media's Ethical conduct and Responsibility Some major incidences in the recent past have highlighted the issue of media responsibilities and ethical conduct globally. One of these was the “Royal prank” in 2012 that led to the suicide of a nurse in the UK. Christian and Greig, hosts at Australia’s 2DayFM called the King Edward VII London Hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted. The duo pretended to be Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II and asked to be updated on the progress of the Duchess. The call was answered by Jacinta Saldana, a nurse who proceeded to put them through to Kate’s ward where the duo received confidential information on the condition of the duchess which they went on to air and the indiscretion went viral worldwide. Nurse Saldana committed suicide days later and the duo’s show was cancelled. In July 2011, News of the World publication was exposed as having hacked many phones including those of the Royal Family, families of victims of crime and celebrities. Though its top executives denied culpability, the paper was found guilty and opted to close operations. Consequently, inquiries into the ethics of the press were launched by PM David Cameron. These unearthed reckless disregard for respect of individual privacy and accuracy and called for the journalism to be more grounded in ethics (Thomas, 2014). This paper seeks to explore the practice of journalism in the context of the Deontological, Utilitarianism and Situational theories of Ethics and examine how media institutions and practitioners can apply these to render their practice more Ethical. Ethics in Media Practice Press freedom that is accompanied by media institutions and practitioners being accountable and responsible is advocated in the Social Responsibility Theory. It therefore flows that ethical principles will be born out of a responsible media. According to Ward (2011), ethical perplexities do not entirely become eliminated by an affirmation of responsibility; rather, a media that claims to be responsible can not be either egotistical or reckless. In the social responsibility theory, ethics are brought into play under the verity that the media is subject to the opinion of the community, the actions of the consumers and professional ethics. At the core of this is media ethics since the press has the freedom to serve the public’s purpose as opposed to that of vested interests and other groups. In this theory, the practitioner is assumed to be rational and capable of discernment between right and wrong. Deontological theory of ethics as developed by Immanuel Kant emphasizes the ethics of duty. The theory makes the assertion that a professional has an obligation to the society to use media ethics in their work and that the continuance of ones duty is what is considered as correct ethically (Thomas, 2014). To deontologists, actions .

1. Running Head: MEDIA'S RESPONSIBILITY 1
MEDIA'S RESPONSIBILITY 4
Media's Responsibility
Name
Institution
Media's Ethical conduct and Responsibility
Some major incidences in the recent past have highlighted the
issue of media responsibilities and ethical conduct globally.
One of these was the “Royal prank” in 2012 that led to the
suicide of a nurse in the UK. Christian and Greig, hosts at
Australia’s 2DayFM called the King Edward VII London
Hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted. The
duo pretended to be Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II and
asked to be updated on the progress of the Duchess. The call
was answered by Jacinta Saldana, a nurse who proceeded to put
them through to Kate’s ward where the duo received
confidential information on the condition of the duchess which
they went on to air and the indiscretion went viral worldwide.
Nurse Saldana committed suicide days later and the duo’s show
was cancelled.

2. In July 2011, News of the World publication was exposed as
having hacked many phones including those of the Royal
Family, families of victims of crime and celebrities. Though its
top executives denied culpability, the paper was found guilty
and opted to close operations. Consequently, inquiries into the
ethics of the press were launched by PM David Cameron. These
unearthed reckless disregard for respect of individual privacy
and accuracy and called for the journalism to be more grounded
in ethics (Thomas, 2014).
This paper seeks to explore the practice of journalism in the
context of the Deontological, Utilitarianism and Situational
theories of Ethics and examine how media institutions and
practitioners can apply these to render their practice more
Ethical.
Ethics in Media Practice
Press freedom that is accompanied by media institutions and
practitioners being accountable and responsible is advocated in
the Social Responsibility Theory. It therefore flows that ethical
principles will be born out of a responsible media. According to
Ward (2011), ethical perplexities do not entirely become
eliminated by an affirmation of responsibility; rather, a media
that claims to be responsible can not be either egotistical or
reckless. In the social responsibility theory, ethics are brought
into play under the verity that the media is subject to the
opinion of the community, the actions of the consumers and
professional ethics. At the core of this is media ethics since the
press has the freedom to serve the public’s purpose as opposed
to that of vested interests and other groups. In this theory, the
practitioner is assumed to be rational and capable of
discernment between right and wrong.
Deontological theory of ethics as developed by Immanuel Kant
emphasizes the ethics of duty. The theory makes the assertion
that a professional has an obligation to the society to use media
ethics in their work and that the continuance of ones duty is
what is considered as correct ethically (Thomas, 2014). To
deontologists, actions are either intrinsically right or wrong.

3. The journalists are therefore charged with the duty of making
decisions based on how ethical they are.
Under deontology, practitioners have no allowance to tweak
stories to fit certain desired consequences. A free media offers
a guarantee for the freedom of expression which is a
fundamental right. However, as put forth by deontology, the
people in the media must always remember that in the exercise
of this freedom, they are expected to be duty bound. In the
media, the presentation of images has been one of the
commonest causes of contention. Practitioners have been
accused of manipulation of images in order to suit the tone of
their story or transplanting the image from its context without
stating as much (Couldry, 2013). This amounts to failing one’s
duty.
Utilitarianism holds that the course of action that results in the
maximum utility (specifically the reduction of suffering and the
maximization of happiness) is the proper one. It follows then
that a journalist’s action’s moral worth is determined solely by
the resultant outcome. The jury is however still out on the
amount of consideration that ought to be given to foreseen,
intended and actual consequences (Thomas, 2014). In this line
of thinking, the “royal pranksters” might argue that the nurse’s
suicide (actual outcome) was not part of their intentions
In situational ethics of the media, it is advocated that there
wrong or right depend on the prevailing situation. Under the
theory, moral rights and rules are not universal and each case
presents its unique challenges calling for unique solutions. The
theory flatly refuses the concept of prefabricated guidelines for
decisions and prescribed rules. It teaches that ethical decisions
should adhere to flexible guidelines on a case by case basis
rather than follow absolute rules (Thomas, 2014). Journalists
should therefore observe situations rather than follow a set of
principles that has been set previously.
A journalist who adheres to situational ethics will approach
issues touching on ethics with a general set of moral principles
as opposed to a rigorous prefabricated set of ethical rules and is

4. ever willing to sacrifice even these principles if by doing so,
he/she feels that greater good will be achieved (Couldry, 2013).
Since cases can be altered by circumstances, ‘situationism’ in
practice holds that what one journalist might call right in some
place and time is wrong to another journalist in other places and
times.
Acting and conducting themselves ethically is a textbook rule of
the careers of journalists and they ought to, at all times choose
the actions that uphold the mass media’s responsibilities while
minimizing the possibility of harm to others.
References
Couldry, N. (2013). Why media ethics still matters. Global
media ethics: Problems and perspectives, 13-27.
Thomas, R. J. (2014). A Dialectic Approach to Journalism
Ethics: Fascinating, yet Unfulfilled. Journal of Mass Media
Ethics, 29(3), 200-202.
Ward, Stephen (2011). Ethics and the Media: An Introduction.
Cambridge U.P: London.