A brief reflection on the role media has in today’s society

We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason. Edward R. Murrow.

At a time where the perilous unrest of different media outlets [1] is animating a lively debate regarding the future of media, it may be a timely moment to assess the importance of the moral responsibility of media.

In earlier societies, social institutions like family, school and church were the most important providers of information, tradition and moral orientation for the individual member of society. Today, these institutions have lost some of their former authority, and the media have to some extent taken over their role as providers of information and moral orientation, at the same time as the media have become society’s most important storyteller about society itself (Hjarvard 2008: 13).

For the purpose of this deliberation, the media is defined as the communication mechanism that conveys aspects of the world and society to the receiver. [2] Over the longue durée of human history, it’s been extensively acknowledged that the societal influence of media has been as strong — if not stronger — in an era where the media ecology has advanced into the diverse and complex communicative forms that the world has ever seen.

It’s in the midst of often unpredictable and far-from-linear processes of reciprocal influence between media and society… How can media be ethical? While Aristotle offered a teleological model of ethics, one where morality derives from inquiring the essential nature of the activity in question and the qualities that are worth honoring and admiring; a narrative conception of self, inspired in Aristotle’s Eudaimonism, perhaps provides a more suitable moral reflection:

Man in his actions and practice, as well as his fictions, essentially is a story-telling animal. He is not essentially but becomes through his history, a teller of stories that aspire to truth. But the key question for men is not about their own authorship; I can only answer the question “What am I to do?” if I can answer the prior question, “Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?” (MacIntyre, 1981).

The sentiment expressed in the quotation, embodies the view that the full measure of responsibility sometimes involves collective responsibility that flows from our story, which is embedded in others. As media becomes society’s most important storyteller, an ethical framework that emphasizes character is crucial to elevate the virtues that habilitate, strengthen and crystalize society’s own knowledge of self; according to Plato, it’s through knowing one self — engaging our own curiosity, accepting our merits and failures, recognizing our own vulnerability — that awareness arises and therefore, guides us, shapes us.

Furthermore, as media cannot be detached from society, a virtue’s unconstrained manifestations from a temporary situation — unlike a set of professional skills or desired codes of conduct — is what can be expected to protect the integrity of media’s craftsmanship and honor the natural duties that we owe human beings as such — persons qua persons — and while the bond between the media and society has ever been closer, it’s not without its present challenges.

Undoubtedly, the economics of the business model of most media, the volatile landscape of technology and social media, as well as the current low levels of media’s trust [3] among societies have led to an editorial preference of expediency over relevance, excitement over analysis, a preference that compromises the media’s role as the guiding safe guard of our ongoing social conversation and undercuts its capacity to enlighten our moral imagination. A thriving media is vital to democracy, freedom and equality because once we begin to reflect on our circumstances, it’s never quite the same again — an ethical media can lead us to experience this unease, this tension that animates critical reflection and ignites political improvement and maybe, even the moral life.

Two examples where media has risen to inspire and elevate the better angels of our nature can enlighten media’s guiding force in the battlefield of ideas.

In the 1950’s, an American broadcast journalist guided by his profound sense of civic duty, ensured his nation’s founding principles would not be undermined by the fear exploitation and ideological persecutions from a junior senator from Wisconsin, his assertive and impeccable selection of words in his broadcasts safeguarded the integrity of his work and prevailed.

In 2014, a satirist devoted little less than 14 minutes to illustrate the importance of Internet neutrality and incited awareness regarding a Federal Communications Commission proposal of rule changes governing it, consequently, the next days public comments spiked in the FCC’s website and months later, the proposal that would have had across-the-board consequences was defeated at a crucial FCC session.

As evidenced by these and countless more examples in history, not only is a free media necessary for the betterment of society, but one that cherishes the virtues that will attest the character that will not answer What is media to do? but rather How is media to be?

[1] Herrman, J. (2016, April 17). Media Websites Battle Faltering Ad Revenue and Traffic. Retrieved May 31, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/business/media-websites-battle-falteringad-revenue-and-traffic.html?hpw

[2] Glossary. (2014, December 13). Retrieved May 29, 2016, from https://mediatexthack.wordpress.com/glossary/#institution. To clarify the terms of this deliberation, the concept of media will be limited to mass media.

[3] Americans’ Trust in Media Remains at Historical Low. Retrieved June 02, 2016, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/185927/americans-trust-media-remains-historical-low.aspx

Sources

Hjarvard, Stig. 2008. The mediatization of religion: A theory of the media as agents of religious change. Northern Lights 2008. Yearbook of Film & Media Studies, 9–26. Bristol: Intellect Press.

MacIntyre, Alisdair. 1981. After Virtue: A Study of Moral Theory. 30–36. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.

Hursthouse, Rosalind, “Virtue Ethics”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/ethics-virtue/>.

Falcon, Andrea, “Aristotle on Causality”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/aristotle-causality/>.

Williams, A. T., & Shelton, M. (2014). What drove spike in public comments on net neutrality? Likely, a comedian. Retrieved June 03, 2016, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/05/what-drove-spike-in-public-comments-on-net-neutrality-likely-a-comedian/