The Concept of Truth in Media Ethics

Media ethics is the subdivision of applied ethics dealing with the specific ethical principles and standards of media, including broadcast media, television, radio, newspaper, journals, online media and magazine. It is generally accepted that correspondent, commentator, newscaster_ that is, any media professional should always seek the truth and report the truth. Truth telling is crucial in media ethics as the opposite of truth telling is considered deception of the public. A good journalist should always tell the truth and try to minimize harm as much as possible. Truth telling is an ethical norm in almost all cultures. The focal point of this paper is to prove that truth plays an important role in media ethics. The tentative solution of this paper is to provide reasons why truth in disseminating information in the media is beneficial while its reverse, twisting the truth and reporting news that is false is harmful to the public. In putting forward this argument reference will be made to the principles of right speech in Buddhists ethics based on benevolence. The research methods used are the descriptive and evaluative methods