Borschel, A. (2012) Sleuthing the truth in the media. Washington: IBJ Book Publishing.
In “Sleuthing the truth in the media”, the author Audrey Borschel questions the truthfulness of media and of the messages that it sends. Borschel argues that in the current world, when the thirst of information is so high and people are dependent on interesting, engaging and sometimes scandalous news, journalists tend to deliver precisely these assets, while transforming the truth into what people want. Nevertheless, this comes with a cost: the cost of the accuracy of the news and the cost of the integrity of the journalists. Various media contents are being analyzed in order for their messages to be decrypted and to determine the readers of this book to differentiate between biased media or deformed truth and real information. The author sends her readers into a detective – like investigation of the truth, guiding them towards identifying on their own the unreliable media contents, by serving them practical examples meant to point out the elements that make news or advertisements biased and also to select the information that are actually real and that hold newsworthiness value. This book serves people’s rights to be informed and not to be induced into a biased truth. Likewise, by teaching the readers how to depict unreliable information, they are also taught on what to spend their time and money, in terms of acquiring information from mass media. The First Amendment of the democratic constitution is invoked and promoted in this book, which emphasizes the democratic principles that are put to good use for serving the people. The book also gives significant insights on newsgathering and publication processes, offering a transparent view upon how the news are “manufactured”.
Goldberg, B. (2002) Bias. A CBS insider exposes how the media distorts the news. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
A courageous book that speaks vividly and accusing about distorting the news. Inside facts, from the media industry are being inserted into this book, as Goldberg is a reputable journalist, who has practiced journalism in the old fashion style and who has seen bias news in his career and decided to spot it. It is a book about professional ethics in journalism, about right or wrong, about what is a fact and what is a distorted fact. The author compares the journalists (news guys) with the mobsters, indicating that they have similar people skills. From this metaphoric comparison and forth, the book advances on mass media elements that are used for delivering biased information: PR, dramatic interpretation of the facts, striking titles, compromising reality for the sake of the show, spectacle, lies. Goldberg discovers actual events that occurred and elaborate on how these events where manipulated by mass media wise guys, in order to generate profits for their media institutions. Instigating people’s emotions is what determines high audiences and Goldberg debunks exactly the process of determining the people to buy newspapers, to turn on their TV on a certain channel or to search information on other channels, as they are frightened, sad, curious to learn more about certain information that they believe is truth, while in fact is just distorted reality, elaborated in such a manner to instigate people to consume the media. In a humoristic, but acid style, the preeminent CBS reporter condemns the flaws of mass – media makers, accusing them of forgetting the objectiveness, the balance in reporting facts and for liberal biases that corrupt the mass - media system and misinform the public to which are served information (that should be to the point and disinterested) in an entertainment manner, for selling them more easily.
Kitross, J., M., Merril, J., C., C. & Dorsher, M. (2011) Controversies in media ethics. 3rd eds. New York: Routledge.
Ethics is what captures the main attention in the book “Controversies in Media Ethics”, where the authors discuss about the duties and responsibilities of journalists in the new media environment, where the news travel fast due to the new technology that contribute to worldwide distribution of information in a flash. This facility that new technology provides (fast speed and global access to information) is also a challenge regarding the ethical aspects of the news. The authors deal the ethical dilemmas of the 21st century reality that impose threats to the objectivity of news, compromising to making the tour of the world because of the news’ value of novelty and of spectacular. In the context of valuing the freedom of speech right, media ethics makes much use of this right, taking it to extremes, where it forces the truth through inedited stories that take little concern about the actual facts of the reflected events. This 15 chapters book treats various concerns of the nowadays mass – media system, activating in a global space, where the real truth and nothing but the truth represents no attraction for journalists and moreover, seemingly having limited value for the audiences also. The internet and new media are among these modern ethical concerns of the mass – media system and the book presents such controversies under the form of analysis and discussions that are meant to provoke the students studying journalism to consider more about the ethics in their future job, by critically evaluating the use of ethics in the actual media content that they have access to.
Marlin, R. (2003) Propaganda and the ethics of persuasion. Ontario: Broadview Press, Ltd.
This book discusses about the right of the freedom of speech, assured through the First Amendment of the constitution, which becomes an aspect of concern when the journalists tend to curbing the truth, raising as an argument their freedom of speech. While freedom of speech is an undisputable right, it does generate dangerous perceptions and concerns about what is information (truth) and what is misinformation (biased truth). The book reflects at the fact that the free speech brought to large audiences leads to propaganda, if the rhetoric is well adjusted to its target. In this sense, a historical perspective of the art of persuasion, from the Ancient Greek, passing through the World War I and World War II and Communism until the current times is offered, while a permanent focus is given to the ethics in the mass communication models. The book “Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion” reflects at the media system, more likely the large media trusts, as the servers of the corporate interests and the tools of the political games. For the readers, the book offers valid information about how the persuasive system works, which makes it a great introduction in the mass manipulation communication tools and strategies. The book mixes historical data about propaganda and its use in key events with theoretical concepts of the elements that form and deliver propaganda and with psychological insights of human mind, analyzing how humans can be manipulated through illusion mechanisms transmitted through speeches that efficiently reaches mass audiences, because of the technological advancement. This combination of history, mass communication analysis and human psychology assessment makes Marlin’s book highly useful for the readers who want to better understand the road from objectivity to propaganda, determining large masses of people to be convinced about a single – side of the story, the side presented and sustained by the propagandist communicator.
Sanders, K. (2005) Ethics and journalism. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
In her book “Ethics and journalism”, Karen Sanders Free analyzes the professional ethics applied by journalists in the news that they transmit to their public, from the perspective of the duality: free speech and harmful speech. While mass media informs and keeps the public up to date with the newest information, it also has the power to insert biased information, which can alter the actual information and can result in a harmful speech. The author examines the Western journalism for identifying the media dilemmas that mass – media deals with in the Western countries. Between personal and public life, the book evaluates to what extent should mass media involve, how the sources should be treated and addressed, how (or if) tragic events should be presented or reflected upon. The discussion about professional ethics in journalism touches the subject of regulating the media industry and of the strategies that journalists should follow for providing newsworthy and objective information. The book is significant because of all these theoretical perspectives upon the ethic and journalism profession, which serves as practical guide for the upcoming journalists, but it is also valuable because it interviews people working in mass – media system, capturing their perceptions about applying ethics when dealing with novel information that should be dressed up for being delivered to the public and about the challenges and the constraints that they face in maintaining the ethics in their profession. The duality freedom of speech – harming/offensive speech stays on a very thin line and journalists can easily break the boundaries between these two concepts in the facts that they present, and mostly, in the manner that they reflect these facts. The author reflects at the fact that freedom, in all its forms, comes with responsibility. Taking freedom of speech for granted in journalism, can lead to offensive speech, violation of privacy, untrusted sources and many other deviations from the ethical code of conduct of journalists.
References
Borschel, A. (2012) Sleuthing the truth in the media. Washington: IBJ Book Publishing.;Goldberg, B. (2002) Bias. A CBS insider exposes how the media distorts the news. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
Goldberg, B. (2002) Bias. A CBS insider exposes how the media distorts the news. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
Kitross, J., M., Merril, J., C., C. & Dorsher, M. (2011) Controversies in media ethics. 3rd eds. New York: Routledge.
Marlin, R. (2003) Propaganda and the ethics of persuasion. Ontario: Broadview Press, Ltd.
Sanders, K. (2005) Ethics and journalism. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
