Visual Ethics

A Guide for Photographers, Journalists, and Media Makers

Paul Martin Lester, Stephanie A. Martin, Martin Smith-Rodden

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000569025
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Lingue e linguistica
• Subtopic: Studi sulla comunicazione

An indispensable guide to visual ethics, this book addresses the need for critical thinking and ethical behavior among students and professionals responsible for a variety of mass media visual messages.

Written for an ever-growing discipline, authors Paul Martin Lester, Stephanie A. Martin, and Martin Rodden-Smith give serious ethical consideration to the complex field of visual communication. The book covers the definitions and uses of six philosophies, analytical methods, cultural awareness, visual reporting, documentary, citizen journalists, advertising, public relations, typography, graphic design, data visualizations, cartoons, motion pictures, television, computers and the web, augmented and virtual reality, social media, the editing process, and the need for empathy. At the end of each chapter are case studies for further analysis and interviews with thoughtful practitioners in each field of study, including Steven Heller and Nigel Holmes. This second edition has also been fully revised and updated throughout to reflect on the impact of new and emerging technologies.

This book is an important resource for students of photojournalism, photography, filmmaking, media and communication, and visual communication, as well as professionals working in these fields.

1 PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS FOR VISUAL ETHICS

DOI: 10.4324/9781003243045-1

Paul Martin Lester

Chapter Topics

• Recent Ethical Dilemmas

• The Definition of Descriptive and Normative Ethics

• Role-related Responsibilities and Justified Harm

• Religions and Values

• Six Ethical Philosophies

• Case Studies to Practice Your Analytical Skills

• Interview with Dr. Matthew J. Brown, Professor of Philosophy and History of Ideas and

• Director of the Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas

Whenever I’m asked what I teach, I mention mass media ethics. The reaction from someone I don’t know well is almost always a cynical smirk with a comment such as, “Well, that must keep you busy.” The implication being, of course, that the media are so unethical that I can’t possibly discuss all the publicized and controversial dilemmas that professionals are accused of in 16 weeks. The public’s general characterization is unfair and rises to the level of a stereotype when critics, mostly political candidates and their supporters, label journalists as, at best the “lamestream media” and at worse, “enemies of the people.” Nevertheless, it is sometimes difficult to defend some questionable and cringe-worthy actions and images seen in the mass media and yet, the overwhelmingly majority of images we see from the media are ethically produced and presented (Figure 1.1). Nevertheless, as with most dilemmas, a few bad apples spoil the milk (that’s how the saying goes, right?).

Recent Ethical Dilemmas

Positive, but mostly negative ethical actions can easily be found that represent most of the chapters in Visual Ethics. For example

• Cultural awareness: Local photojournalists are often ignored by editors when reporting about African “slavery, exploitation, colonization, or oil and mineral extraction” (Jayawardane, 2017) (See https://bit.ly/3mWExtV),

FIGURE 1.1 A warehouse fire on a hot, humid day in New Orleans caused the firefighters on the ground to develop heat exhaustion. Initially prevented by a police officer to take pictures, the photographer jumped over backyard chain-link fences to get to the location. All the men were sent to a hospital where they were treated and released. The picture won the top prize from the New Orleans Press Club for news. Was it unethical to trespass through pirivate yards given the situation?

Source: Courtesy of Paul Martin Lester.

• Visual reporting: A photograph of the body of a drowned boy causes a reader firestorm (Harte, 2014) (See https://bit.ly/3AvZcsO),
• Documentary films: Minor factual errors ditch (because the film is about a car company GM) Michael Moore’s Roger & Me (Ebert, 1990),
• Citizen journalism: Darnella Frazier, a high school student, records the murder of George Floyd on her smartphone and helps change the world (Yancey-Bragg, 2020),
• Advertising: The British grocery store chain, Tesco introduced adhesive bandages in three skin shades: Light, medium, and dark (Leow, 2020),
• Public relations: “Batchelor” host Chris Harrison is forced to resign after defending a plantation-themed party (Wong & Dasrath, 2021) (See https://bit.ly/3kLUgt4),
• Typography: Comic Sans, a typeface more appropriate for children’s books, was used for a Dutch World War II memorial on reconciliation (Coles, 2012),
• Graphic design: Shepard Fairey uses a photograph without permission for his Barack Obama “Hope” poster (Elliott, 2009),
• Data visualization: Georgia officials created a misleading column chart to hide ineffective COVID-19 response (McFall-Johnsen, 2020),
• Cartoons: Street artist Banksy creates an emotional animation sweatshop opening for “The Simpsons” (Halliday, 2010),
• Motion pictures: A Steven Soderbergh 2011 film, Contagion, foretells the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak (Rogers, 2020) (See https://bit.ly/3mQTs8S),
• Television: Racial and ethnic stereotypes persist on screen media (Nittle, 2020) (See https://bit.ly/2WMrQr1),
• The web: Uncensored, gruesome video of news footage not shown on television (Roth, 2021) (See https://bit.ly/3gS27Es),
• Games: The call for an end to violent and misogynistic video games, a movement known as Gamergate, led to online harassment and became a recruitment tool for the alt-right (Romano, 2021) (See https://bit.ly/3mWBwd5),
• Mixed reality: A Pokémon Go PokéStop is discovered in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC (Peterson, 2016) (See https://wapo.st/3t6Qn5L),
• Virtual reality: A grieving South Korean mother is connected to her dead daughter through headset technology (Kim, 2020),
• Social media: Twitter permanently bans former President Trump’s account (Fung, 2021) (See https://cnn.it/3zNBqYI),
• Editor concerns: A breastfeeding mom on the cover of Time magazine inspires insights, condemnations, and record sales (Braiker, 2012) (See https://bit.ly/3mRvfPT), and
• Empathy: The designers of the National September 11 Memorial Museum were charged to create a “meaningful tribute that will resonate with every visitor: the schoolchildren who know almost nothing of what happened, survivors who ran from the buildings covered in ash, and all those—more than a billion worldwide—who experienced the attack live on TV” (Kuang, 2014).

Not all questionable actions rise to the level of unethical behavior. How do you know what is and is not ethical? Some problematic actions are etiquette errors. The behavior merely violates some social norm as in not wearing a mask when asked to do so or not keeping a door open for a person behind you. Whatever the slight, your evaluation should not be an initial gut reaction. Understanding the definition of ethics and the philosophies that are designed to help you are the first steps in a long-term, defendable analysis.

The Definition of Descriptive and Normative Ethics

Ethics is the study of how people behave and how they should behave toward other persons, sentient beings (animals that can feel pain or discomfort), and systems (academic, business, economic, environmental, governmental, and so on).

Simply noting questionable behavior is not a particularly illuminating form of ethics. That type of ethics is aptly named descriptive. It is all well and good to call out behaviors that you suspect to be ethical or unethical, but such labeling doesn’t advance the field and doesn’t lead to better behavior.

Another form of ethics—normative—helps us all progress. After a deliberate process, normative ethics concludes how individuals should perform. With normative ethics, credible alternatives are offered to guide others in what should have been done so they might do the right thing.

Many confuse the concept of morals and ethics. Although interconnected, their differences are important and should be understood. Knowing what is right, good, and acceptable and what is wrong, bad, and unacceptable is moral. Morality, then, is concerned with judgment while ethics is concerned with behavior. The concepts are interconnected because the actions we take should be based on what we think is correct. We are taught the difference between right and wrong and how we should act given a unique set of circumstances throughout our lives by friends, caregivers, role models, educational opportunities, as well as the millions of tiny and significant everyday and life-changing and affirming experiences that fill our minds with memories, questions, and solutions. Another crucial educational input in our quest toward moral development and ethical behavior is the media, which is why the study and practice of mass communications is so vital.

Role-Related Responsibilities and Justified Harm

Recall the ethics mantra to determine if a behavior is ethical—do your job and try not to cause harm. It is composed of two parts. If the role-related responsibilities for a particular person or entity are met and any harms that ensue can be justified, chances are the result is ethical.

We all demonstrate diverse and often complex jobs or roles throughout our personal and professional lives. We may be children, friends, students, caregivers, parents, consumers, teachers, office workers, creators, managers, and so on. Each role signifies a complex interrelated structure composed of responsibilities that define that position. A friend, for example, initiates contact, cares for another, offers advice, and is reliable and consistent. An instructor writes a syllabus, meets with students, gives lectures, and assesses assignments. Roles, therefore, are often multifaceted and complex.

However, a friend might also give critical advice or reveal a secret that may be tough to hear while an instructor might give tough exams, assign 20-page term papers, write critical remarks about a student’s work, and give a less than favorable grade. Friends and instructors sometimes cause harm. However, there is no ethical slight if that harm can be justified. A friend cares and speaks the truth. A teacher is concerned that you understand the material conveyed during lectures. Any harm, hurt feelings, or a “C” in the class, is therefore justified.

Religions and Values

Throughout the long history of social development, humans have devised ways of thinking to help explain the thoughts from developing, questioning minds, the signs and omens exhibited by environmental observations, and the meaning of their place in a complex world. Imagine woke individuals all starting to question themselves, authority figures, and their gods. Where did I come from? How do I know something is true? How should I act toward myself and others? What is the difference between good and bad? After death will I go to Heaven, Hell, or somewhere in-between like Paris, Texas? What is the meaning of life?

Religion is a refuge for many to help understand these and other fundamental questions. According to Adherents, a non-denominational organization, there are more than 4,000 “churches, denominations, congregations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, and movements” (Juan, 2006). The ten most widespread religions in chronological order since conception are

• Hinduism (circa 7,000 bce, Pakistan). Without a founder, Hinduism is detailed in the scriptures of the Rig Veda. It advocates four goals: Live a virtuous life, take pleasure from the senses, achieve wealth legally, and continue after death through reincarnation.
• Judaism (circa 2,000 bce, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan). Founded by Moses and Abraham, sacred texts, namely the Torah, reveal the belief in one god who wants followers to be just and compassionate.
• Zoroastrianism (circa 1,500 bce, Iran). Founded by Zoroaster, followers believe there is one god named Ahura Mazda and that the world is composed of good and evil, Heaven and Hell.
• Shinto (circa 700 bce, Japan). All things—animal, mineral, and vegetable possess a spiritual energy in which the aesthetics of nature rule supreme.
• Buddhism (circa 600 bce, Nepal). It was founded by Prince Siddhartha Gautama who was ashamed of his wealthy lifestyle after seeing human suffering. Adherents try to understand four truths: Suffering is a part of life, attachments promote suffering, through the practice of nirvana, a state of quiet happiness, as in listening to a Kurt Cobain song, one can conquer suffering, and once achieved, there is release from birth and death cycles.
• Confucianism (circa 600 bce, China). Founded by K’ung-fu-tzu or Confucius as known in the West, it stresses the values of the Zhou dynasty that included loyalty to a ruler conferred by the “sky god” to promote harmony and honor among the people.
• Jainism (circa 500 bce, India). Like Hinduism and Buddhism, followers learn from prophets who have reached the highest spiritual goals possible.
• Taoism (circa 500 bce, China). From the teachings of Lao Tzu in his book, Tao Te Ching, a person should achieve a middle way between Yin and Yang, action and nonaction, hot and cold, and so on.
• Christianity (circa 30 ce, Judea). Based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and others as written in the New Testament of the Bible, followers believe in the holy trinity, the resurrection of Jesus, the holiness of the Church, and an ultimate judgment of the faithful. Christian teachings stress the values of courage, generosity, love, hope, peace, and respect.
• Islam (610 CE, Mecca). Inspired by the stories of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, the prophet Muhammad through divine revelations taught that there is one god. A follower should care for those who are in need and everyone is judged as detailed in a collection of scriptures within the Quran (Bhattacharyya, 2020).

Seventy-five percent of those who practice a religion belong to one of five: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. All the religions listed previously are based on teachings that convey a philosophy of normative ethical values. None of the main religions, in their original teachings, advocate violent acts, ostracism of nonbelievers, suppression of others based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, or beliefs, or distrust of information. Those ways of pitting one side against another came later. Understanding the divisions between people—the roots and possible outcomes—is a role of philosophy (Juan, 2006).

Six Ethical Philosophies

• Although any two philosophers would probably disagree, most acknowledge that there are seven main branches of philosophy,
• Aesthetics (An emphasis on beauty and a good life),
• Axiology (The nature of values and their importance),
• Epistemology (The study of what is known and unknown),
• Ethics (Duh. The subject of this book),
• Logic (The study of sense-making),
• Metaphysics (Concerned with why life exists and the fate of the universe), and
• Political (The rules and structures humans make to keep people safe and ...