Media Ethics for Liberation

This weeks reading and discussion I found to be a bit more challenging for me to follow. After reading over everything a few times, I still can’t know for sure if I completely understand it. Follow along to see what I took away from this week’s discussion on media ethics for liberation. 

The first thing I did was googled the definition of social justice and I found, “Social justice is a concept of fair and just relations between the individual and society. This is measured by the explicit and tacit terms for the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity, and social privileges”. Really being able to understand a clear definition of social justice helped me break down the first question.

What are my views on media’s roles/responsibilities in the question of social justice? I think the first idea of this is to understand that the media and social justice affect each other. I’ve known for many years that social media plays a huge role on the effects of any society. I believe that the media has important roles and responsibilities in question of social justice, however it continues to be misused everyday. According to an article by Farah Jamil, she talks about some of the many responsibilities media plays a role in our society. Jamil says, “the truth is that — the media can also become a victim while fulfilling its responsibilities”. As a senior journalist was questioned in the article she was asked about the social responsibility of media, and responded, “this is a very complex question because to some extent the media is doing what it needs to do but then there are major issues and positive issues that are not being addressed for some very obvious reasons.” So like I said, I believe that social media plays a huge role on social justice but society can’t figure how to use it correctly and for the right reasons.

Dussel’s ideas focus on the people who’ve been ‘excluded’ or ‘left out’ of ethical traditions and refers to them as the others, “the oppressed”. I liked the three ethical principles Dussel used to guide human actions. As he summed up liberation people as, “one who operates in an ethical-critical manner should (is ethically obligated to) act to liberate the victim, as part of the same community to which the victim belongs”. I really liked how professor Pike broke it down for media makers and consumers as, “change the world by changing the story — through narratives of new ‘norms’ and ‘actions’ that involve making life more full and equal for those in need of fullness and equality”. I also really like what he said in the last paragraph of his article. “An ethics thereby becomes the last resort of humanity, which is in danger of becoming extinct as a result of its own actions”. This quote is so real and true to me, in my opinion. I agree with what he’s saying.

One of the examples that come to mind when thinking about ethical “liberation” journalism is, a journalist reporting on an LGBTQ teen’s and their situation. Upon reading the story, the teen’s community and family becoming more accepting of them and their sexuality.