Toward a Global Media Ethics: Theoretical Perspectives

Abstract

Theoretical debates about global media ethics have been marked by disagreements about the nature, possibility, and desirability of a global ethics. This article attempts to address those disagreements by developing an “ethics of universal being” as the philosophical basis for a global media ethics, an ethics expressed by such universals as the sacredness of life, truth, and nonviolence. The article aims to explore various theoretical positions on global media ethics by providing an overview of the literature and seeking ways in which common ground may be found between these different positions. This approach is developed in two ways. First, it sets forward a theory of universals as “protonorms” rooted in the fully human. Second, it shows how this conception of protonorms takes account of two facts thought to make a global media ethics impossible—the fact that values change or are “invented” over time, and the fact that values are interpreted differently in different cultures. The article argues that universal values should be understood not as transcendent ideas but as protonorms embedded in particular contexts. In this view, the universal and the particular are intimately linked. Through this exploration of links between theoretical positions, the article provides a theoretical basis that can be developed further through discussion between scholars representing different traditions and for the application of the theory to practical media contexts by journalism practitioners.