The role of journalist and the performance of journalism: Ethical lessons from "fake" news (seriously)

Journal of Mass Media Ethics 22 (4):300 – 314 (2007)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Some have suggested that Jon Stewart of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (TDS) and Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report (TCR) represent a new kind of journalist. We propose, rather, that Stewart and Colbert are imitators who do not fully inhabit the role of journalist. They are interesting because sometimes they do a better job performing the functions of journalism than journalists themselves. However, Stewart and Colbert do not share journalists' moral commitments. Therefore, their performances are neither motivated nor constrained by these commitments. Using a virtue theory framework, we suggest that this distinction between journalists and their imitators is morally significant because it implies differences in the kinds of excellence these moral agents are pursuing in their work. Rather than evaluating the work of Colbert and Stewart in the role of journalists, we propose analyzing their contributions to media ethics in the role of media critics.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 103,401

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Good character: Too little, too late.Neil Levy - 2004 - Journal of Mass Media Ethics 19 (2):108 – 118.
Do Journalists Share Universal Values?Folker Hanusch & Sandra Banjac - 2021 - In Stephen J. A. Ward, Handbook of Global Media Ethics. Springer Verlag. pp. 71-90.
Ethical Issues Facing South Korean Media.John C. Carpenter & Gwanglip Moon - 2021 - In Stephen J. A. Ward, Handbook of Global Media Ethics. Springer Verlag. pp. 1329-1348.
Improving the Scientist/Journalist Conversation.JoAnn M. Valenti - 2000 - Science and Engineering Ethics 6 (4):543-548.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
354 (#83,692)

6 months
15 (#168,777)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

References found in this work

After virtue: a study in moral theory.Alasdair C. MacIntyre - 2007 - Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
After Virtue.A. MacIntyre - 1981 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 46 (1):169-171.
The virtuous journalist.Stephen Klaidman - 1987 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Tom L. Beauchamp.
The elements of journalism: what newspeople should know and the public should expect.Bill Kovach - 2014 - New York: Three Rivers Press. Edited by Tom Rosenstiel.

View all 7 references / Add more references