1. Codes of Ethics in Media.
CF301 Communication Ethics and Rights.
Fall, 2012.
Lecturer : Dr. Ayten Görgün Smith Teaching assitant: Sabina Jafarova
Kadir Has University Grad. Stud. Kadir Has University
Faculty of Communications Faculty of Communications
Department of Public Department of New Media
Relations and Information

2. Codes of Ethics.
Codes of minimal standards:
For those who professionally uninformed.
Created by management and imposed on
newcomers.
Codes of ideal expectations or
‘aspirational’ codes:
Developed by people who expect to follow them.
Source: Jay Black and Chris Roberts Doing Ethics in Media; Theories and Practical
Applications

3. The Potter Box
Define the Choose your
Situation Loyalties
Identify the Identify the
Values Principles
Source: Jay Black and Chris Roberts Doing Ethics in Media; Theories and Practical
Applications, pp.53

4. Doing ethics by asking and answering
the ‘5WS and H’.
• 1. What’s your problem?
• 2. Why not follow the rules?
• 3. Who wins, who loses?
• 4. What’s it worth?
• 5. Who’s whispering in your ear?
• 6. How’s your decision going to look?
Source: Jay Black and Chris Roberts Doing Ethics in Media; Theories and
Practical Applications

5. Ethics Case Studies.
• Offensive Images
Question: Do we publish the cartoons or not?

6. Daily Mirror editor Piers
Morgan
Fake photo showing British
soldiers abusing an Iraqi
Morgan refused the demand to
apologise, was sacked and
immediately escorted from
the building.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3716151.stm

7. 5 Codes of Ethics examples
• Code of Moral ethics:
Our value systems that we believe in. These are
codes that are non-written and may vary from
individual to individual.

8. 5 Codes of Ethics examples
• Code of Personal ethics:
Applied to an individual’s personal conduct in
daily life. How we Behave with others?
What moral values we imbibe? How we
look upon humanity? How we maintain
our own integrity?
These are a few examples of one’s personal code
of conduct.

9. 5 Codes of Ethics examples
• Code of Societal Ethics:
When the ethics are applied to an entire society
we term them as societal code of conduct.
 They too have a rulebook regarding their
beliefs about culture, religion, race and
their own beliefs by which they are identified.

10. Mahatma Gandhi
(1869-1948)
He did a huger strike which
continued for days till entire
India vowed of not going back
to violence again.

11. 5 Codes of Ethics examples
• Code of Business Ethics:
To prevent an organization from doing activities
that may harm the interests of other
organizations, individual society or the country

12. Apple
• Helps to bring down the
greenhouse gas emissions
• Has made this a policy that they design each and
every product as per the energy efficiency
categories listed within the EPA ENERGY STAR
5.0
• To keep a check on the green house gas
emissions.

13. 5 Codes of Ethics examples
• Code of Professional Ethics:
Teach us how to behave with our colleagues in
the profession also help us grow as an
individual.

14. Readings:
Jay Black and Chris Roberts Doing Ethics in
Media; Theories and Practical Applications,
‘Codes of Ethics and Justification Models’,
London: Routledge, 2011 pp.39-68.