The Media and Its Responsibilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Media and Its Responsibilities - Essay Example The media has continued to crusade for rights of the minority, better healthcare, improved education standards, environmental conservation in ways that seek to improve the welfare of communities and groups. To this extent, the media remains a formidable force for positive social transformation for the present and future generations. On the negative side, the media has incurred criticisms from groups, individuals, and sections of the society for practices considered generally unethical or harmful to consumers (Ward, 2011). Claims of explicit content reaching children and individuals with sensibilities continue to affect the positive aspects of the media. Moreover, there are increasing concerns of unethical professional practices among journalists and media houses with calls of increased regulation coming from religious organizations and other facets of the society’s leadership. It is important to consider the fact that some of the criminal activities in the society have been blamed on the loose regulations of the media content particularly with regard to uncensored exposure of pornographic materials and violent media content (Ward, 2011). The negative aspects of the media have tended to increase with the increasing regulation of the airwaves and the growth of the information communication and technology i nfrastructure across the globe. Philosophically, a comprehensive analysis of the media and its responsibilities could incorporate the theories of utilitarianism, virtue ethics and deontology. Both the positive and the negative aspects of the media could be assessed in terms of the ethical underpinnings on which the various actions are based. According to the theory of deontology, people should adhere to their obligations and duties, whenever they make decisions and judgments that have the nature of a moral dilemma (Shafer-Landau, 2012; White, 2009). According to this theory, the moral rightness or wrongness of an action