Download PDF - International Center for Journalists

Journalism Ethics: The Global Debate
What’s the Kantian going to say?
‘No.’ The Kantian basically is going to
say, ‘If you do this, what you’re saying
is that you want everybody in the
world to do what you’re just about to
do.’ And there goes the whole sense
of civility, the whole sense of
politeness, the whole sense of caring,
the whole idea of lining up in queues
and taking your place and being
orderly in a society. All of society turns
into a kind of a glorified soccer brawl if
you head down this direction. The
Kantian says, ‘No way.’ The utilitarian
says, ‘Of course.’”
Another term, commonly used in Latin
American ethics courses, to describe
Kant’s approach is deontological
ethics, that is, ethics based not on
consequences but on deon, the Greek
word meaning “duty.”
The Golden Rule, or
Reversibility
The principle that you should “do to
others as you would have them do to
you” is at the center of all major
religions. “It is probably the ethical
principle that more people have used
more frequently in the history of the
world than any other,” Kidder said. It
comes down to putting yourself in
another’s place, reversing one’s role.
The Golden Rule is often referred to
as a “care-based” approach.
The most difficult aspect of the carebased
approach is defining who is the
“other,” in whose place should you put
yourself. Most ethical dilemmas
involve multiple actors. Putting
yourself in others’ shoes often
involves seeing the problem from
several perspectives. Once you have
explored these various perspectives,
you can decide which action
constitutes what Dr. Kidder calls “the
highest sense of caring.”
In the newsroom, ethical
problems typically produce
an impasse between those
who say, “Be realistic, we
have a deadline and readers
to serve,” and those who say,
“Darn it, there is a principle
at stake here.” It is at that
impasse where the real
ethical work begins.
To use an earlier example, the golden
rule approach would require one to
consider both the feelings of the family
and the interests of society before
publishing a story with the tragic
details of the relative’s death. More
than simply a cost-benefit analysis,
this approach would weigh the human
value of each perspective. Even if all
of society reaps entertainment
benefits from publishing the story, the
golden rule ethicist would argue that
care for the emotional impact to the
victim’s family would preclude
publishing. Only if publishing entailed
important social benefits to the
community—and one could imagine
oneself as a member of the victim’s
family and still appreciate the value of
publishing— would a golden rule
ethicist then favor publishing the story.
The three ethical approaches do not
constitute a “little black box,” into
which you can put your dilemmas, turn
the crank and have a solution pop out.
Ethical decision making, Kidder says,
International Center for Journalists