First published in 1994. The media report terrible events. But the academic study of the media is increasingly trivial and lacking in moral seriousness. Media, Culture and Morality examines how this paradoxical situation could have emerged. The author seizes upon the disparity between the enormous production of books in the field and the lack of substantive insights generated. He argues that such a mass of self-conscious criticism should have provided a moral critique of contemporary culture not the quagmire of theoretical verbiage and threadbare politicizing we are faced with today. The book is a disturbing speculation on the fate of moral and cultural values in a media-dominated world.

As modern media shifts from the distribution of information to the creation of entertainment, a fresh inquiry into the ethics of media becomes vital. This collection of 19 essays provides useful guidelines and perspectives for the producers and consumers of entertainment. Topics covered include the contemporary creation of celebrity, the effects of entertainment on children, the hybridization of entertainment and news, author and intellectual property rights, and the role of human dignity in modern media, among many others. The essays question the nature and ethics of media entertainment as it becomes increasingly pervasive in our time.

The changing pattern of contemporary media is one of the most striking and important transformations of our age. This major new work seeks to understand the implications of a series of mediated processes in relation to public cultures and modern identities. In The Transformation of the Media the author leads the reader through a number of complex theoretical issues, connecting the nature of modern communication to the affects this has on our common moral and ethical lives. Most significantly, he argues that a number of perspectives as diverse as Marxism, post-modernism, liberalism, communitarianism and technological determinism can all be found wanting in this regard. The Transformation of the Media attempts to situate the media, and more theoretical concerns, within a broad sociological framework. The volume adds to our shared understanding of the media's relation to contemporary cultural transformations including globalisation, the development of informational capitalism, the changing nature of the public sphere and the impact of new social movements. More specifically, through a discussion of the 'new media order' and the Rwandan genocide a critical prism is held up to existing debates concerning the globalisation of the media. Key features: an extremely topical and accessible analysis of the media's implications for contemporary cultural transformations combines a theoretical and empirical approach presents complex theoretical ideas in an accessible way This book will be essential reading for students studying globalisation, the global media, new media technology, identity and cultural development in cultural studies, media studies, and sociology and politics courses.

By exploring how scandals fuel mass media and popular culture, this timely book will stimulate much discussion about this fascinating subject.

Media Marathoning: Immersions in Morality is a scholarly study of the intense relationship between reader and story world, analyzing the way audiences become absorbed in a fictive text and dedicate many hours to exploring its narrative contours. Rather than view these media experiences as mindless indulgences, “media marathoning” connotes a conjoined triumph of commitment and stamina. Compared to more traditional, slower-paced media engagement patterns, media marathoning affords readers greater depth of story world engagement, maximizing the emotional and cognitive rewards of the media experience. Through immersive marathoning experiences, audiences can seriously engage with mediated questions about human nature and society, refining our orientation toward morality through internal dialogue about the story and communication with other readers as we process the meaningful journey. As digital technologies facilitate easier, user-centered access to media texts, narratives increase in complexity, and more readers seek immersive story world experiences, marathoning looks to be the new normal of media engagement. Drawing from qualitative studies of book, film, and television marathoners, along with textual analysis of commonly marathoned stories, Media Marathoning presents a holistic look at marathoning’s cultural impact.

Examines the paradoxical situation where the media report terrible events, but the academic study of the media is increasingly trivial.

This book explains the mediating effects of social media on our morality.

“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king...” Shakespeare was repeating what the ancient Greeks had pioneered—if you want to tell a moral lesson and have it remembered, then make it entertaining. Chad Painter and Lee Wilkins explore how popular culture explains media ethics and the philosophy that is key to solid ethical thinking. Each chapter focuses on a key ethical concept, anchors the discussion of that concept in a contemporary or classic accessible film, analyzes decisions made in that film with other popular culture artifacts, and grounds the analysis in appropriate philosophical thought. The book focuses on core philosophical concepts of media ethics—truth telling, loyalty, privacy, public service, media economics, social justice, advocacy, and accountability—as they are examined through the lens of narrative film, television, and music. Discussion questions and online instructor materials further course applicability while the popular culture examples make ethical theory accessible and exciting for students and professors from a variety of academic backgrounds.

Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, Ninth Edition challenges students to think analytically about ethical situations in mass communication by using original case studies and commentaries about real-life media experiences. This market-leading text facilitates and enhances students' ethical awareness by providing a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical principles of ethical philosophies. Media Ethics introduces the Potter Box (which uses four dimensions of moral analysis: definitions, values, principles and loyalties) to provide a framework for exploring the important steps in moral reasoning and analyzing the cases that follow. Focusing on a wide spectrum of ethical issues facing media practitioners, the cases in this new Ninth Edition include the most recent issues in journalism, broadcasting, advertising, public relations and entertainment.

Ethics in communication and media has arguably reached a pivotal stage of maturity in the last decade, moving from disparate lines of inquiry to a theory-driven, interdisciplinary field presenting normative frameworks and philosophical explications for communicative practices. The intent of this volume is to present this maturation, to reflect the vibrant state of ethics theorizing and to illuminate promising pathways for future research.