Media information – ethical dilemmas and moral consequences

Čupić, Čedomir and Joković, Milica (2016) Media information – ethical dilemmas and moral consequences. Medijski dijalozi : časopis za istraživanje medija i društva = Media dialogues : journal for research of the media and society, 9 (24). pp. 9-32. ISSN 1800‐7074 eISSN 2536-5622

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Abstract

The right to be truly informed belongs to the fourth generation of human rights. It is the product of contemporary time and past experiences, especially after two world wars, in which totalitarian propaganda dominated. This universal right is based on a universal value – truth. Truth is the measure according to which information should be publicised in media. Criteria for selecting information for publishing should be measured by truth, knowledge end significance. The new propagandists and manipulators congested the informative space, by giving equal significance both to significant and insignificant information. This exemplifies how media, especially electronic media, pollute public space. In that way information are downgraded to commodity. It is beyond doubt that information is both right and commodity. The question is which is more important, not whether information is one or the other. Therefore, information is ‘and’, not ‘or’, when it comes to the question of right or commodity. It is important that the right is dominant, yet it does not mean that information is not a commodity too. Derived from the commodity‐right relationship, there are four ethical dilemmas in media realisation: public‐private, official‐unofficial, truthful‐loyal, and just‐useful. These dilemmas lead to moral consequences in which manipulators often equalise truths, semi‐truths and non-truths, thus disorienting the public. In that way skilful manipulators abuse freedom in the name of media freedom. A special problem in that abuse is the placement of information as sensations in the public space.

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