Week 11-Using Microsoft Excel

Unlike Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel is pretty alien to me. The last time I remember using it is probably when I was working as an administrative assistant and all I had to do was key in results into the boxes provided. The exercises in this week's tutorial were easy to carry out except for the one on macros. Prior to this, I had no clue what that word even meant. Nagivating through the advacned task was a bit of a hassle but I did manage to get through it, I guess. Anyway, I learnt from this tutorial how to constuct equations for tabulating results easily though it seemed like so much more work. Overall though, I will still probably not use Microsoft Excel unless I really have no other choice. :)

Week 10-Using Microsoft Word

Nowadays, people use microsoft word to type letters, essays, articles or any other sort of documents. I am no greenhorn to Microsoft word processing but after this week's tutorial task, I realsied that I still have much to learn. Exercises 1, 2 and 3 were pretty easy to do, however, it was the first time I actually carried out those tasks. The instructions were fairly easy to navigate through and I managed to complete the task relatively quick. Previously, when I prepared a letter on Microsoft word, I would not have used the tools shown in Advanced Exercise 1 and 2. Instead, I would prepare a separate document for each of the different recipients I was going to send the letter to, which was time-consuming and tedious. By using track changes and mail merge, I can easily make changes, and key in my recipients information after which, multiple copies of the letter are generated with the names of all recipients printed on each document. This greatly saved time and allowed me to accomplish my task much more efficiently. I believe that Microsoft word still has many other applications that I may not be aware of, so I am definitely going to make an effort to master them in due course.

Essay for 1501ART New Communication Technologies

Media Ethics

Journalists and editors working in media industries such as advertising and newspaper publishing are bounded by moral rules and regulations, commonly known as Media Ethics. Media ethics usually determines what kind of materials are appropriate and thus can be published for viewing by the general public. This essay will discuss briefly the three main approaches in thinking about ethics: Deontology, Teleology and Virtue Ethics. I will start by defining each term and then explaining its approach, followed by how they relate somehow to the application of media, particularly, journalism.

Deontology is primarily based on ethical principles. When a deontological position is adopted, judgements over our actions are passed as being independent of the results or outcomes (Faculty of Social Sciences 2007.). There are basically five types of deontological ethics namely Divine Command, Duty Theories, Rights Theories, Contractarianism and Monistic Deontology (Cline 2007). Deontology is commonly associated with the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant whose philosophy is best described by the dictum: ‘Act on that maxim which you will to become a universal law’ (Tanner, Philips, Smyth and Tapsall, cited in Christians, Rotzoll and Fackler 1991, p. 14). This is what is defined as the ‘categorical imperative’, the idea that we should always base our actions on maxims or rules we believe ought to become universal (Eklof 2004). Kant’s philosophy can be seen in great deal in the current MEAA/AJA Code of Ethics, in clauses 1, 4 and particularly so in the second part of clause 8. Clause 8 reads: “Never exploit a person’s vulnerability or ignorance of media practice’ (Tanner, Philips, Smyth and Tapsall, cited in http://www.alliance.com.sg). This works closely with Kant’s theory that everyone should be treated with basic respect and not exploited in any way for a journalist’s personal achievement (Tanner et al. 2005, p. 18).

However, as with all theories, deontological ethics have several problems. Firstly, they do not provide a sure way of resolving the conflicts between moral duties, and are argued to be consequentialist in nature. The question of are we supposed to abandon the duties of the 18th century or deem them valid today is also raised. Secondly, deontological systems appear to be absolute in nature, whereby they do not allow for exceptions once a decision has been reached (Cline 2007). For example, Tanner, Philips, Smyth and Tapsall (cited in Christians, Rotzoll and Fackler 1991, pp. 14-15) states that deception in journalism is an inexcusable action, which in turn renders redundant a journalist’s flexibility in treating cases based on their merits. As Cline holds, deontological systems are usually developed based on their ability to explain how and why particular duties are valid in any point of time and informs us of that ability.

Another approach to ethics is Teleology, that defines the good independently from the right and then defines the right as that which maximizes the good (Velez 2007). In contrast to deontology, teleological theories are based on consequentialism, a term by Elizabeth Anscombe(1958) in the late 1950s (Hirst and Harrison 2007, p.177), where consequences determine whether an action is correct or wrong. There are three aspects of consequentialist theories, namely ethical egoism, ethical altruism and utilitarianism. All three aspects hold that if the consequences of action are deemed more favourable than unfavourable, than that action is morally right. However, ethical egoism only attends to the agent performing that action while ethical altruism attends to everyone except the agent. Utilitarianism on the other hand attends to everyone including the agent (Tanner et al. 2005, p. 17). An example of ethical altruism is apparent in death knocks (visiting the house of a bereaved relative/friend to report the death) performed by journalists where they show more concern for the dead person’s family then for themselves (Tanner et al. 2005, p.14).

Utilitarianism is the most popular theory of the three and is often associated with British philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. It is usually divided into act and rule utilitarianism, which deals with individuals and the common good respectively. In journalism, exposing a corrupted political leader is an action considered as utilitarian. By exposing the wrongdoing of the politician, the maxim underlying utilitarianism: “the greatest good of the greatest number” is achieved (Tanner et al. 2005, pp. 17-18).

The last major approach to thinking about ethics is Virtue Ethics or what is sometimes referred to Eudaimonist Ethics. Virtue Ethics refers to an approach in ethics whereby the virtues of an individual are considered first before analyzing their acts and consequences that follow (Louden 1998). It has been the mistaken notion among many people that virtue ethics differs from deontology and teleology in that it is more agent rather than act centred. However, eudaimonist ethics not only represents our personal identity and the lives that we choose to lead, but provides a critical analysis of our daily actions and decisions. In other words, it is important to take into account our characteristics, as well as our individuality and our successes in life (Cafaro 2007).

A key figure to note in the discussion of Virtue Ethics is Aristotle, who believes that people should pursue “eudaimonia”, which represents happiness in a person (Tanner, Philips, Smyth and Tapsall, cited in Stocker and Langtry 1986, p. 26). From the evaluation of his writings, it was interpreted that people should also live their lives in accordance with virtues such as courage, justice and friendliness (Tanner, Philips, Smyth and Tapsall, cited in Stocker and Langtry 1986, p. 27). Perhaps, one of the most important contributions of Aristotle was his mid-point theory known as the “Golden Mean” that is used in problem solving. This theory holds that many virtues are located in the center of other character extremes. For example, journalists may decide to apply the “Golden Mean” theory when they find that their reporting of news appear too sensationalist and they want to counter it without being too boring. Another situation in which this theory applies is when journalists decide to liven up their interviews without coming across as too aggressive (Tanner et al. 2005, pp.18-19).

Discussed above are basically 3 major approaches in thinking about ethics. Journalists in the media world today need to educate themselves of these approaches, which may directly or indirectly address the moral or ethical problems they might face. However, they should not worry of having to limit themselves to belonging to a particular approach but explore the possibilities of complementing one with the other. They need to be able to adopt a “practical model” that they are comfortable with (Tanner et al. 2005, p.19). After all, ethics is about asking ourselves what and how we ought to act to do the right thing and are able to put that into practice?

Reference List

Cafaro, P n.d., Theoretical Ethics: Virtue Ethics (Not Too) Simplified. Retrieved April 25, 2007, from http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Teth/TethCafa.htm

Christians, CG, Rotzoll, KB & Fackler, M 1991, Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, 3rd edn, New York, Longman.

Cline, A n.d., Deontology and Ethics: What is Deontology, Deontological Ethics? Retrieved April 24, 2007, from http://atheism.about.com/od/ethicalsystems/a/Deontological.htm?terms=deontology

Eklof, TF 2004, The Christian Ethics of Joseph Fletcher: Love as Predicate, Retrieved April 23, 2007, from
http://www.cliftonunitarian.com/toddstalks/christianethicsofjosephfletcher.htm

Fieser, J n.d., The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Ethics, Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm#SH2

Hirst, M & Harrison, J 2007, Communication and New Media, From Broadcast to Narrowcast, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.

Lancaster University Faculty of Social Sciences Committee on Ethics n.d., Ethical Theories. Retrieved April 25, 2007, from http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/resources/ethics/theories/htm

Louden, RB 1998, VIRTUE ETHICS, In Encyclopedia of applied ethics, Vol 4, pp. 491-498. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from Griffith University Electronic Resources.

Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance 1999, ‘AJA Code of Ethics’, Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.alliance.org.au/

Stocker, M & Langtry, B 1986, ‘Aristotle and Polity’, in Political Thinkers, D. Muschamp (ed.), Melbourne, Macmillan, pp. 26-38.

Tanner, S, Philips, G, Smyth, C & Tapsall, S, 2005, journalism ethics at work, Pearson Education Australia, French Forest NSW.

The Essential Site For Journalists n.d., Journalism Glossary. Retrieved May 4, 2007, from http://www.journalism.co.uk/glossary.shtml

Velez, EA n.d., The Axiological-Deontological Spectrum: Logical Possibilities for Normative Ethical Theories, Retrieved April 23, 2007, from
http://global.cscc.edu/phil/101/Ethics%20files/axiological-deontological.htm