JTC411 - Media Ethics & Issues

Course description: Professional ethics, issues of media performance and of the relation of media systems to the social systems.

Reference/Background Information

These reference books (some online) are very useful resources for obtaining background information for research projects to do with media ethics.

American Journalism. 2 vols. PN4855 .M63 2000 Reference

Encyclopedia of Communication and Information. Online via Gale Virtual Reference Library

See articles such as: Gender and the Media.

Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics. BJ63 .E44 1998 Ref

Encyclopedia of Ethics. BJ63. E45 2001 Ref

Ethics. BJ63 .E54 2005 Ref

Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns. Online via Gale Virtual Reference Library

Encyclopedia of Media and Politics. P95.82 .U6 E47 2007 Reference

Includes entries for: Editorials, News analysis, News blackouts, Newsgathering process, Newsmagazines, News management, Newspapers, Women and the media, and much more.

Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Do searches for various topics such as: marketing, advertising, ethics, media, gender, body image, etc.

Identify Additional Books by Subject

Identify useful books by searching the library catalog Sage or Discovery (these terms also work in Prospector, the regional library catalog, and WorldCat) by subject for:

Ethics

Journalistic ethics
Journalistic Ethics United States
Journalism Objectivity
Journalism United States Objectivity
Mass Media Influence
Mass media -- Moral and ethical aspects

Public Relations

Advertising
Customer relations
Industrial publicity
Internet in public relations
Mass media and business
Press releases
Public relations

Books of Possible Interest

Ads to Icons: How Advertising Succeeds in a Mulitmedia Age. HF5823 .S76 2007 Morgan and 2009 Morgan

Case Studies in Information and Computer Ethics. QA76.9 .M65 S65 1997 Morgan

Ethics in Human Communication. P94 .J63 2008 Morgan

Journal of Mass Media Ethics Exploring Questions of Media Morality. P94 J68 2002eb (e-book--may require reader download)

Media Ethics: Where Do You Draw the Line?: A Case Study Approach to Understanding News Coverage and Journalistic Decision-Making. PN4756 .S83 1999 Morgan

Media Selling: Broadcast, Cable, Print and Interactive. HF5439.B67 W37 2004 Morgan

The 100 Best TV Commercials--and Why They Worked. HF6146 .T42 K36 1999 Morgan

How to Evaluate Books--Summary

For more details and examples see "How to Evaluate Books."

To evaluate a book look for:

Purpose: Why was the book written? To:

inform?
persuade?
entertain?
teach how to do something?
give an overview?

Publisher: Who published the book:

A university press?
Commercial publisher?
Professional or Trade Association, Institution, or Research Center?
Government (US, state, local)?
Vanity (self-published)?
University theses and dissertations (considered published by the university)

Organization and Content

Date of Publication: Is it:

up-to-date,
out-of-date, or
timeless?

Authority/author: Is the author an expert in this field?

Bibliography: Scholarly works always contain a bibliography of the resources that were consulted. The references in this list should be in sufficient quantity and be appropriate for the content. Look for:

if it exists,
if it is short or long,
if it is selective or comprehensive,
if references are primary sources or only secondary sources,
if references are contemporary to the book or much older, and
if the citation style is clear and consistent.

Usefulness: Is the book relevant to the current research project? If it is useful, does it:

support an argument
refute an argument
give examples
contain information that can be challenged?

Coverage: Is the book comprehensivee or is it an overview?

Audience: Is the book for:

general readers,
students (high school, college, graduate),
specialists or professionals,
researchers or scholars?

Illustrations: Are charts, graphs, maps, photographs, etc. used to illustrate concepts? Are the illustrations relevant? Are they clear and professional-looking?