Enlightening communication analysis in Asia–Pacific: Media studies, ethics and law using a Buddhist perspective

Abstract

A Western paradigm has dominated approaches to communication and journalism studies – particularly in the areas of theory, analysis and law and ethics. This article backgrounds important critiques of that paradigm, and considers how globalized communication and media studies has become, before exemplifying how a secular Buddhist perspective might offer 2,500 year-old analytical tools that can assist with media analysis, law and ethics. The article proposes the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, particularly the sila (moral/ethical) dimension of the fourth truth, the Noble Eightfold Path ( magga), can serve as a fruitful tool for informing communication theory and analysis, and media law and ethics. The article begins by assessing the extent to which communication and media studies in Asia and the Pacific has shifted to accommodate non-Western approaches. In media analysis, it suggests the Buddha’s teachings on Right Speech ( samma vaca) offer key understandings to assist with the deconstruction of media texts. In media law and ethics, it extends the application of Right Speech principles to comparing defences to libel (defamation) as they have developed in four Western jurisdictions.