Media ethics is the subdivision of applied ethics dealing with the specific ethical principles and standards of

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

, including

broadcast media Broadcasting is the distribution of audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wit ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, the

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

print media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

and the internet. The field covers many varied and highly controversial topics, ranging from war journalism to Benetton ad campaigns. Media ethics promotes and defends values such as a universal respect for life and the rule of law and legality. Media Ethics defines and deals with ethical questions about how media should use texts and pictures provided by the citizens. Literature regarding the ways in which specifically the Internet impacts media ethics in journalism online is scarce, thereby complicating the idea for a universal code of media ethics.

History of media ethics

Research and publications in the field of information ethics has been produced since the 1980s. Notable figures include Robert Hauptman (who focused his work specifically on censorship, privacy, access to information, balance in collection development, copyright, fair use, and codes of ethics), Rafael Capurro, Barbara J. Kostrewski and Charles Oppenheim (who wrote the article "''"Ethics in Information Science"'' , discussing issues as confidentiality of information, bias in information provided to clients or consumers, the quality of data supplied by online vendors, etc.). In the 1990s, the term "information ethics" began to be explored by various Computer Science and Information departments in the United States. In the late 1990s, textbooks such as Richard Severson's ''The Principles of Information Ethics'' and Marsha Cook Woodbury's ''Computer and Information Ethics'', and Deborah G. Johnson's ''Computer Ethics'' were published.

Areas of media ethics

Though it is hard to exactly define media ethics, William H. Bishop identifies the set of ethics as concerning the " moral behavior of individuals based on an established and expressed standard of the group, which is in and of itself a collection of individual values." Media ethics can be defined as the set of moral principles and values as applied to the conduct, roles, and content of the mass media, in particular

journalism ethics and standards Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional " code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and ...

and

marketing ethics Marketing ethics is an area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics (ethics of advertising and Promotion (marketing), promotion) overlap with media e ...

; also the field of study concerned with this topic. In relation to news coverage it includes issues such as

impartiality Impartiality (also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness) is a principle of justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the mo ...

, objectivity,

balance Balance may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance, as in equality (mathematics) or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * Balance (1983 film), ''Balance'' ( ...

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

, privacy, and the

public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...

. More generally, it also includes stereotyping, taste and decency,

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

, advertising practices such as

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...

, and legal issues such as

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

. On an institutional level it includes debates over media ownership and control,

commercialization Commercialisation or commercialization is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into e ...

, accountability, the relation of the media to the political system, issues arising from regulation (e.g.

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

) and

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

Ethics of journalism

The ethics of journalism is one of the most well-defined branches of media ethics, primarily because it is frequently taught in schools of journalism. Journalistic ethics tend to dominate media ethics, sometimes almost to the exclusion of other areas. Topics covered by journalism ethics include: * News manipulation. News can manipulate and be manipulated. Governments and corporations may attempt to manipulate news media; governments, for example, by

, and corporations by share ownership. The methods of manipulation are subtle and many. Manipulation may be voluntary or involuntary. Those being manipulated may not be aware of this. See: news propaganda. *

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

. Truth may conflict with many other values. ** Public interest. Revelation of military secrets and other sensitive government information may be contrary to the

, even if it is true. However,

is not a term which is easy to define. ** Privacy. Salacious details of the lives of public figures is a central content element in many media. Publication is not necessarily justified simply because the information is true.

Privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

is also a

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

, and one which conflicts with

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

. See:

paparazzi Paparazzi (singular form paparazzo) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people, such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities who go about their daily life routines. Paparazzi are known f ...

. ** Fantasy. Fantasy is an element of entertainment, which is a legitimate goal of media content. Journalism may mix fantasy and truth, with resulting ethical dilemmas. See:

National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays Source (journalism), sources for tips (chec ...

Jayson Blair Jayson Thomas Blair (born March 23, 1976) is a former American journalist who worked for ''The New York Times''. In May 2003, he resigned from the newspaper following the revelation of fabrication and plagiarism within his articles. In 2004, h ...

scandal, Adnan Hajj photographs controversy. ** Taste. Photo journalists who cover war and disasters confront situations which may shock the sensitivities of their audiences. For example, human remains are rarely screened. The ethical issue is how far should one risk shocking an audience's sensitivities in order to correctly and fully report the truth. See

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

. * Conflict with the law. Journalistic ethics may conflict with the law over issues such as the protection of confidential news sources. There is also the question of the extent to which it is ethically acceptable to break the law in order to obtain news. For example, undercover reporters may be engaging in

deception Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Tort of ...

trespass Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person (see below), trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery ...

and similar

torts A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with c ...

and crimes. See

undercover journalism Undercover journalism is a form of journalism in which a reporter tries to infiltrate in a community by posing as somebody friendly to that community. Role The role of undercover journalism has become the topic of much debate as moral and ethical ...

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

Online journalism

Internationally recognized journalist and scholar Steven J. A. Ward defines journalism ethics as the responsible use of freedom of speech. Ward says that "media ethics can only exist when journalists have agreed to use responsibly their powers of publication." The ethics of online journalism holds great importance to the authenticity and credibility of reported literature although it can be difficult to gauge a set standard because of differences in national and international cultural values. In this current digital climate with multiple new technologies and broad availability of information, Journalists have less ascendancy over what is considered important news. Online journalists must now assist consumers in making sense of it all. The Internet has shaped and redefined various ethical and moral issues for both online journalists and journalists utilizing online resources. While some journalists continue to adhere to ethical principles of traditional journalism, many journalists believe that with the absence of a mutually agreed upon code of ethics specifically pertaining to internet ethics, and lack of literature dealing specifically with the ways in which the Internet impacts media ethics in journalism online, the online environment poses new threats to the profession. Some of the core issues of media ethics in online journalism include commercial pressures, accuracy and credibility (which include the issues dealing with hyperlinks), verification of facts, regulation, privacy, and news-gathering methods. In addition the ethics in question are not only limited to the action of reporters, but the decisions organizations and outlets that release information. Questions emerge on the ethical responsibilities of organizations to the public such as whether it is unethical for stories to be reported expediently to get the better of competition rather than taking time to receive the full story.

Ethics of entertainment media

Issues in the ethics of entertainment media include: * The depiction of violence and sex, and the presence of strong language. Ethical guidelines and legislation in this area are common and many media (e.g. film, computer games) are subject to ratings systems and supervision by agencies. An extensive guide to international systems of enforcement can be found under

motion picture rating system A motion picture content rating system classifies films based on their suitability for audiences due to their treatment of issues such as sex, violence, or substance abuse, their use of profanity, or other matters typically deemed unsuitable for ...

. * "Fluff or "Celebrity News": Over the years, print media has faced a decline, and so, journalists began to report on what is referred to as "Celebrity News", or "Fluff." As more outlets adopt this topic to report on, people become dependent on them. According to Alden Weight, most people know not to completely trust these outlets due to ethical discrepancies, but issues arise when less informed citizens find these reports to be completely true. *

Product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...

. An increasingly common

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

tactic is the placement of products in entertainment media. The producers of such media may be paid high sums to display branded products. The practice is controversial and largely unregulated. Detailed article:

. * Advertising: Attraction and persuasion are currently found in modern journalism. It is found that these methods of advertising may alter an audience's point of view of what is realistic and falsified information. *

Stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

. Both advertising and entertainment media make heavy use of

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

. Stereotypes may negatively affect people's perceptions of themselves or promote socially undesirable behavior. The stereotypical portrayals of

men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

affluence Wealth is the abundance of Value (economics), valuable financial assets or property, physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for financial transaction, transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the ...

and

ethnic groups An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

are examples of major areas of debate *** Women in Media: Entertainment media often exploits female bodies by objectifying and de-humanizing them. By doing so, the concept of female bodies being bought and sold becomes common. *** Media outlets usually use either images or imagery of female bodies to counter negative news that is provided throughout the day. * Taste and taboos. Entertainment media often questions of our

values In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live ( normative ethics), or to describe the significance of different a ...

for artistic and entertainment purposes.

Normative ethics Normative ethics is the study of ethics, ethical behaviour and is the branch of Philosophy, philosophical ethics that investigates questions regarding how one ought to act, in a Morality, moral sense. Normative ethics is distinct from metaethics i ...

is often about moral values, and what kinds should be enforced and protected. In media ethics, these two sides come into conflict. In the name of art, media may deliberately attempt to break with existing norms and shock the audience. That poses ethical problems when the norms abandoned are closely associated with certain relevant moral values or obligations. The extent to which this is acceptable is always a hotbed of ethical controversy. See:

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

. * Alterations. There is universal agreement between journalists that it is acceptable to crop pictures or edit voice recordings as long as the speaker's meaning is not altered. Alternatively, almost all journalists concur that it is unethical to create fake, or synthetic, events that were made via AI-generated images or deepfakes. What is disputed, however, is the lengths that journalists and creators may go to in order to enhance their news broadcasts. This leaves an undetermined gray area that questions whether images can be altered to, for example, make the sky appear bluer.

Media and democracy

In democratic countries, a special relationship exists between media and government. Although the freedom of the media may be

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

ally enshrined and have precise legal definition and enforcement, the exercise of that freedom by individual journalists is a matter of personal choice and ethics. Modern democratic government subsists in representation of millions by hundreds. For the representatives to be accountable, and for the process of government to be transparent, effective communication paths must exist to their constituents. Today these paths consist primarily of the mass media, to the extent that if

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

disappeared, so would most political

accountability In ethics and governance, accountability is equated with answerability, culpability, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public secto ...

. In this area, media ethics merges with issues of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

and

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. Issues include: * Subversion of media independence by financial interests. * Government monitoring of media for intelligence gathering against its own people. See, for example, NSA call database. See: freedom of information,

media transparency Media transparency, also referred to as transparent media or media opacity, is a concept that explores how and why information subsidies are being produced, distributed and handled by media professionals, including journalists, editors, public r ...

Right to Information. L Mera

Media integrity

Media integrity refers to the ability of a media outlet to serve the

and democratic process, making it resilient to institutional

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

within the media system, economy of influence, conflicting dependence and political clientelism. Media integrity encompasses following qualities of a media outlet: *

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from private or political interests * transparency about own financial interests * commitment to

* responsiveness to citizens The concept was devised particularly for the media systems in the region of South East Europe, within the projec
South East European Media Observatory
gathering organizations which are part of th
South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM)

= Radio ethics and integrity

= Radio broadcasters are held to the same standards as journalists when it comes to adhering to a code of ethics. As a spoken broadcast, however, radio hosts and DJs are held to standards as to how they manipulate their audience. Time compression, also known as Cash, is an effective way for hosts to include more time for commercials within their broadcasts. Recorded and live programs are slightly sped up, not enough for viewers to notice, which leaves time for additional thirty-second commercials in the broadcast. In turn, broadcasts will make more money from promoting more advertisements. WABC, a New York-based radio station, implemented this technique on The Rush Limbaugh Show. Limbaugh was unaware of this alteration to his program, and aired his grievances live on air to apologize to listeners.

Digital media ethics

Digital news media includes online journalism, blogging, digital photojournalism, citizen journalism, and social media. It talks about how journalism should interact and use the 'new media' to publish stories including how to use texts and images provided by other people.

Ethics of images

There are new ethical issues due to the new image technology. Citizens now have the availability to take pictures and videos in easier and faster ways like smartphones which allow them to not only collect information but also edit and manipulate it. This convergence of ease of capture, ease of transmission, and ease of manipulation questions the traditional principles of photojournalism which were developed for non-digital capture and transmission of pictures and video. The main issues regarding the new image technology is that the newsroom cannot trust the easily obtained images and also the limit of the image edit. It is vague and very difficult to decide the borderline of image manipulation. It is very complicated and still a dilemma to clarify the principles of responsible image-making and ethics on it.

Attempts to develop a universal code of media ethics

Within the last two decades, numerous regional discussions have taken place in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia in order to create a universal code of ethics for the information society. One of the core issues in developing a universal code for media ethics is the difficulty of finding a common ground between ethical principles from one culture to another. Also, such codes may be interpreted differently according to various moral and legal standards.

UNESCO INFOethics Congresses

The ethical facet of the global information society has been on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) agenda since 1997, when the organization initiated their first INFOethics Congress. The objective of this summit was to spark debate on the ethical dimension of the global information society. The UNESCO INFOethics Congresses then met in 1998 and 2000, where specialists coming from a wide range of educational, scientific, and cultural environments addressed the ethical dimensions of global media and information.

International Symposium on Information Ethics, Karlsuhe, 2004

In 2004, the ICIE, or International Center for Information Ethics, organized the first international symposium on information ethics in Karlsruhe, Germany. Experts with varying scientific backgrounds such as computer science, information science,

media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

, and economics, gathered from all over the world to discuss the internet from both an ethical and intercultural perspective.

Contexts of media ethics

Media ethics and public officials

The

has manipulated the way public officials conduct themselves through the advancement of technology. Constant television coverage displays the legislative proceedings; exposing faster than ever before, unjust rulings throughout the government process.

telling is crucial in media ethics as any opposition of

truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

telling is considered

. Anything shown by the media whether print or video is considered to be original. When a statement is written in an article or a video is shown of a public official, it is the original "truthful" words of the individual official themselves.

Intercultural dimensions of media ethics

If values differ interculturally, the issue arises of the extent to which behaviour should be modified in the light of the values of specific cultures. Two examples of controversy from the field of media ethics: * Google's self-censorship in China. * The

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, ) began after the Danish newspaper published twelve editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in what it said was a response to the deb ...

in Denmark, and subsequently worldwide.

Meta-issues in media ethics

One theoretical question for media ethics is the extent to which media ethics is just another topical subdivision of

applied ethics Applied ethics is the practical aspect of morality, moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership. For ex ...

, differing only in terms of case applications and raising no theoretical issues peculiar to itself. The oldest subdivisions of applied ethics are

medical ethics Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. T ...

and

business ethics Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business c ...

. Does media ethics have anything new to add other than interesting cases?

Similarities between media ethics and other fields of applied ethics

and

honesty Honesty or truthfulness is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtue, virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness (including straightforwardness of conduct: Good faith, earnestness), along with the ...

are issues extensively covered in medical ethical literature, as is the principle of harm-avoidance. The trade-offs between economic goals and social values has been covered extensively in

(as well as medical and

environmental ethics In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resourc ...

Differences between media ethics and other fields of applied ethics

The issues of

and aesthetic values (taste) are primarily at home in media ethics. However a number of further issues distinguish media ethics as a field in its own right. A theoretical issue peculiar to media ethics is the identity of ''observer'' and ''observed''. The press is one of the primary guardians in a democratic society of many of the freedoms, rights and duties discussed by other fields of applied ethics. In media ethics the ethical obligations of the guardians themselves come more strongly into the foreground. Who guards the guardians? This question also arises in the field of legal ethics. A further self-referentiality or circular characteristic in media ethics is the questioning of its own values. Meta-issues can become identical with the subject matter of media ethics. This is most strongly seen when artistic elements are considered. Benetton advertisements and

Turner prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

candidates are both examples of ethically questionable media uses which question their own questioner. Another characteristic of media ethics is the disparate nature of its goals. Ethical dilemmas emerge when goals conflict. The goals of media usage diverge sharply. Expressed in a consequentialist manner, media usage may be subject to pressures to maximize: economic profits, entertainment value, information provision, the upholding of democratic freedoms, the development of art and culture, fame and vanity.

Artificial intelligence in digital content

Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

(AI) has emerged as a force in the creation of digital content displayed in the media. It has the capability to produce text and images. AI tools give its users the ability to generate imagery and writing quickly, bringing in an ethical concern regarding biases from source data, misinformation, and manipulative content.

Algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

s utilized by AI systems often lend themselves to creating engaging and viral-prone content. These lend themselves to the dissemination of misleading, and inaccurate information. These issues raise ethical concerns and an importance of establishing ethical frameworks to address AI in media. When AI-generated content provides the public with

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...

, and bias, there is an unclear idea of who is responsible for the harm or damage caused. These problems are made greater by social media platforms. These platforms provide financial and social benefit for those who receive large amounts of attention, leading media creators to more frequently spread unreviewed and opinionated information.

References

External links

Poynter Institute bibliography of Media ethics

Fourth Estate Code of Ethics

Media Ethics Resources on World Wide Web

Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law

from th
School of Communications at California State University, Fullerton

Media impact on democracy

– from the

Education Resources Information Center The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the United States Department of Education. Description The missio ...

Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills,

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

. {{Authority control Professional ethics Journalism ethics