Media Ethics

Visual, situational and cultural contexts play an important role in influencing audiences to believe what can be perceived from the published article, news or video. Different combination of these approaches may lead people into having had different understanding or interpretations about the meaning of an image although they are basically looking at the same image. Well, it happened to me a few times. 

As explained by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006), visual communications can be understood differently within a community because of the differences in ‘social semiotics’ that each individuals in a particular community has. Hence, it explains the reasons why we might have different interpretations towards an image.

The article discusses the techniques used to “improving” articles published to satisfy the major stakeholders. These stakeholders include the published icon, celebrities with certain demands, the readers and personal satisfaction of the photographers. With the ability and motive to create such “improvements”, different photographers and/or editors take on different approaches.

In fact, imagery plays an important role in depicting a situation and it helps people to stimulate their thoughts regarding an issue. Immediacy revolves around images as they immediately capture the attention of people hence evoking a sort of emotion from it (Hansen, 2011).

Schirato and Yell (2000) explained that audiences interpret the context of a text based on the aspects of the situations, which include; what is going on and where, those involved the role of the text in the situation, the other texts which are related to the current text, the wider social and cultural context.

As discussed in the previous article, it is important to define to what extent should “improvements” be allowed and how much deviation it will cause to its audiences that will lead them away from the actual message or even from reality. Strategies should be developed to prevent and detect ethical violation, imposing strict regulations and guidelines.

To conclude, the perception of the audience is out of the photographer or journalist’s or photographer’s control. It is however important to maintain photojournalism ethics to promote a healthy media industry, providing accurate visual, situational and cultural context to readers. The American Society of Magazine Editors have allowed editors to continue regulating themselves, therefore it is essential that editors carry along ethical principles and ensure publications are no mere deviations from reality.

Reference

Cynthia RK n.d., ‘Ethical issues in writing and publishing’, www.ons.org, viewed on 5^th November 2012, <http://www.ons.org/Publications/CJON/AuthorInfo/WritingSupp/Ethics>.

Hansen, L 2011, ‘Reading the world's mind: Political, socioeconomic and cultural approaches to understanding worldwide Internet search queries’ The International Communication Gazette , vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 233-251.

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, Reading images: the grammar of visual design, 2nd edn., Routledge, London.

Schirato, T & Yell, S 2000, Communication and culture: an introduction, viewed 7th June 2011, <http://books.google.com/books?id=x0eCjzs0bhwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

Wilkins L, & Christians CG 2009, ‘The Hand Book of Mass Media Ethics’, Taylor and Francis, UK.