Journalistic Ethics and Kierkegaard

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses journalistic ethics, according to the views of philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard. It begins with a brief look at the various theories of journalistic ethics that have held sway in the past. The paper then presents cases demonstrating their inadequacies. It then re-examines those cases under the Kierkegaardian system of teleological suspension of the ethical qua journalism and discusses the possible objections to and complications of this approach.

From the Paper:

"In the organic process through which ethical weeds inevitably sprout wherever civilization ploughs fresh soil, modern society may have broached a new continent. Surely this can be said with respect to journalism. Technological advances, innovative political tactics, and the ever-more competitive relationship between government and press all contribute to a proliferation of ethical dilemmas for which there exists no adequately vigorous effort to account. When the old approaches to journalistic ethics, having never foreseen the complexity our times, prove themselves antiquated, journalists must pursue new ways to understand the ethics of their craft. The answer, I submit, lies in the writings of nineteenth century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, whose sees the finite nature of ethical dimensions and transcends them through a teleological suspension of the ethical. Before wading into the intricacies of Kierkegaard, though, I would first like to sketch the structure of this essay."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aucoin, James and Edmund B. Lambeth. Journalism, Narrative and Community: Implications for Ethics, Practice and Media Criticism. Professional Ethics: A Multidisciplinary Journal. 2(1-2): 67-88, 1993.
• Cunningham, Richard P. Journalism: Toward an Accountable Profession. Hastings Center Report. 17(15-16): 15-16, 1987.
• Habermas, Jurgen. Three Normative Models of Democracy. Theories of Democracy: A Reader. Eds. Ronald J. Terchek and Thomas C. Conte. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2001. 236-243.
• Harris, Nigel G.E. Journalists: A Moral Law Unto Themselves? Journal of Applied Philosophy. 7(1): 75-85, 1990.
• Kierkegaard, Soren. Fear and Trembling. A Kierkegaard Anthology. Ed. Robert Bretall. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1954. 118-134.

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