COMM 4600 Media Ethics

Wednesday  5:00 -  7:30pm     MMC 235

Fall 2002 Syllabus (3 credits)

Instructor:                   Dr. Weiwu Zhang                                         

Office:                         MMC 169 and/or MMC 187 (CRC)

Office Hours:              Wednesday & Thursday 1:00-3:00pm, and by appointment                     

Office Phone:              (931) 221-7973

Fax:                             (931) 221-7265

Email:                          zhangw@apsu.edu   

Homepage:                 http://www.apsu.edu/zhangw

Course Description/Objectives

Catalog Description: “An in-depth examination of ethical principles and conduct as they apply to mass media. Topics covered include codes of ethics, forces which affect ethical decision-making in media, consequences of ethical decisions, and media responsibility.” This course examines some of the key ethical issues confronting mass communicators today. We will concentrate on issues ethical decision-making models and their application to ethical dilemmas facing professional mass communicators. We’ll focus on

Required Readings

            Clifford Christians, Mark Fackler, Kim Rotzoll, & Kathy McKee. (2000). Media ethics: Cases and moral reasoning. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

            Ethical cases handouts

Prerequisite: Upper division standing or permission of instructor

Resources on Media Ethics

Academic Journals Focusing on Media Ethics

American Journalism Review

Brill’s Content

Columbia Journalism Review

Journal of Mass Media Ethics

Quill

Selected Web Sites for Ethics Materials

The American Civil Liberties Union: www.aclu.org

American Journalism Review: www.ajr.org

Associated Press Managing Editors: apme.com

The American Society of Newspaper Editors: http://www.asne.org/ideas/codes/codes.htm

The Center for Democracy and Technology: www.cdt.org

Center for Media Education: www.cme.org

Columbia Journalism Review: www.cjr.org

The Electronic Frontier Foundation: www.eff.org

The Electronic Privacy Information Center: www.epic.org

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting: www.fair.org

The Federal Communications Commission: www.fcc.gov

The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center (at Vanderbilt University): www.freedomforum.org

Guidelines and Codes of Ethics: www.asne.org/ideas/codes/codes.htm

Josephson Institute of Ethics: www.josephsoninstitute.org/

The Journal of Mass Media Ethics: http://jmme.byu.edu/

Minnesota News Council: www.mtn.org/~newscncl

Poynter Institutes’ Ethics: www.poynter.org/classes/ethics.htm

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies: www.poynter.org/

Project Censored: www.projectcensored.org

Radio-Television News Directors Ethics Codes: www.missouri.edu/~jourvs/rtcodes.html

Society of Professional Journalists: www.spj.org

Assignments & Grading

Exam – There will be one exam during the semester. It will cover the philosophical foundations of media ethics and most importantly, the Potter Box model of moral reasoning.

Commentaries – Write 4 commentaries (3-4 pages each) on situations that require media practitioners to make ethical decisions. The first two cases will be in journalism; the third case will be in public relations, and the fourth case may either be in advertising or entertainment. I will provide the cases. You must use the “Potter Box” model as a framework for each commentary. Each of your commentaries should address these questions:

1.      What are the essential facts of the case?

2.      What are the competing values of the major players?

3.      What are the competing ethical principles can you apply and why?

4.      What are the competing loyalties of the major players?

5.      What possible courses of action are available?

6.      What would you do?  Why your choice of action is relatively better?

Weekly Response Papers – Reading is your major responsibility for the course. To achieve this end, each week you will prepare one-page, single-spaced “response papers” that raise issues and questions about the respective week’s reading and email them out to the whole class no later than noon, Tuesday. 

Participation/Discussion - Your attendance is MANDATORY. It’s also in your best interest to be in class.  We only meet about 16 times during the semester. If an emergency arises, notify me BEFORE class. Very rare emergencies do not allow for a phone call to let me know before the missed class.

To help you participate fully, there are some guidelines on “good” participation:

·         Regular attendance

·         Familiarity with text reading assignments including optional readings at times

·         Demonstrated ability to understand others’ comments, especially the ability to remember what has already been said

·         Demonstrated ability to synthesize others’ contributions by bringing together what has been said to form a new insight, question, or conclusion

·         Sharing library materials, newspaper and journal articles relevant to the course

·         Cooperation in creating a supportive learning atmosphere

·         Demonstrated skill in constructive disagreement

Excepted from The Teaching Professor, August/September 1995, p. 2.

Each of you will serve as discussion leaders in two sessions during the course of the semester. Discussion leaders should read the readings and write a 1-2 page summary and critiques of the main ideas of the readings and generate questions for class discussion. These reports will be shared with other seminar participants.  

            In summary, course grades will be based on the following:

Exam                                       15%

Commentary 1                       15%

Commentary 2                       15%

Commentary 3                       15%

Commentary 4                       15%

Weekly response papers        10%

Participation/Discussion       10%

Survey project (2 hours)        5%

Final grades will be based on a scale with various cut-off points determined on a curve. To get a passing grade, you must take part in each exam on the scheduled date.  You must notify me 24 hours prior to, or 24 after a scheduled exam and show me a written documentation to qualify for a make-up exam. If the exam schedules conflict with a religious holiday or existing travel plans, bring this to my attention by the end of the first week of class so we can make some mutually convenient arrangements. Having more than one exam on the same day is not a legitimate reason to miss an exam in this course. After the first week of class, only those with a formal, written excuse from a doctor will have exams rescheduled. Any others who miss an exam will receive a zero for that exam and, most likely, fail the course.

Important Course Rules and Policies

1.      Disability note

Any student who has a disability that may affect his/her academic performance is encouraged to make an appointment with me t o discuss this matter, or you may contact Disability Services in the Clement Building, Suite 140 at 221-6230 (Voice) or 221-6278 V/TDD.

2.      Attendance

Class attendance is critical and mandatory. We only meet once a week. Exams will cover textbooks, lecture materials, and class discussions. The bottomline is that if you miss many classes, you won’t learn the material and your grades will DEFINITELY suffer. MORE THAN TWO UNEXCUSED ABSENCES WILL RESULT IN LOWERING YOUR FINAL GRADE BY A LETTER.

3.      Classroom behavior

Students must read the “Code of Student Conduct” in the new Student Handbook for an understanding of what will be expected of them within the academic setting.

4.      Academic integrity

Cheating on exams or plagiarism or any form of violation of the University honor code is serious offense and will result in severe penalty according to the University and Department regulations. The work you turn in must be entirely your own.

5.      Late assignments

All written assignments are due at the beginning of class on the days designated on the schedule. You need to start your papers as early as possible. No excuses (computer eats up your paper, printer problem, car breaks down, breakup with your boyfriend or girlfriend, memory loss, whatever) will be accepted for late submission.

6.      Extra credits

There might be opportunities for you to participate in some research projects during the semester to earn some extra credits through the Communication Research Center (CRC) at the Department of Communication and Theatre as a telephone interviewer. It can bolster your final course grade if your grades are on the borderline, but the extra credit session is NOT a replacement for any major assignment. If you sign up for the extra credit sessions, you must show up or your grades will be lower.

7.      Make-up exams

No make-up exams will be given except in the cases of family emergency, incarceration, official University business, or other life-threatening situations. You must notify me 24 hours prior to, or 24 after a scheduled exam and show me a written documentation to qualify for a make-up exam. If the exam schedules conflict with a religious holiday or existing travel plans, bring this to my attention by the end of the second week of class so we can make some mutually convenient arrangements. Having more than one exam on the same day or buying an airline ticket to be out of town early does NOT constitute a legitimate reason to miss an exam in this course. After the second week of class, only those with a formal, written excuse from a doctor will have exams rescheduled. Any others who miss an exam will receive a zero for that exam and, most likely, fail the course.

8.      Incompletes

I don’t give them. The only way to qualify for consideration of an incomplete is for extreme cause to be determined on a case-by-case basis. 

Students may NOT make commercial use of their class notes of lectures without the express written consent of the instructor.

Survival Tips for the Course

1.      Your major assignment for the course is READING. So keep up with your reading. NEVER do the last minute cramming!

2.      Refer to this syllabus often and adhere to the course policies so that the administration of the course is clear and fair to everyone.

3.      Learn to take good notes.

4.      Make the most of my office hours. Keep in mind that I get paid to help you. Do not wait until the end of the semester. Usually by then I can do little.

5.      Make clear distinction between opinionated argument and evidence and provide both your claims AND the research evidence.

Instructor’s Educational Philosophy

I believe that the major purpose of teaching is the nurturing of students’ curiosity, the logical and creative ways of thinking, and essential skills of observation and task execution that lead to life-long, self-initiated learning. In keeping with this philosophy, I will give you what you want to know and what I think you NEED to know, and provide as much intellectual stimulation as my abilities permit, but I also expect you to challenge me and to question my and other scholars’ assumptions. I expect you to take an active part in this learning process. I am “notoriously” good at getting you to worry more (to a certain extent), so don’t sit back and expect me to entertain you. In addition, learning involves more than memorizing facts and figures. The most useful learning, I think, is about how to think, both creatively and critically; how to find, use, and evaluate information; and how to express ideas effectively in writing and speech.

Final Note

            While I do not regularly lose things, I expect that you will make a copy of everything you give me. Should there be any dispute about what you turned in, I will expect to be able to ask for a xerox copy of the paper within a reasonably SHORT time period (same day as requested). If you are unable to produce one, I will consider this as evidence that the paper is not turned in at the assigned time. At any rate, the dollar it costs you to make a photostat is a small price to pay to insure the document on which you have spent a chunk of your life.

COURSE  SCHEDULE

NOTE: The syllabus is not written in stone and is subject to minor changes.