Ética en el cuarto poder. La nueva realidad del periodismo.

Abstract

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS TITLE: "Ethics in the fourth estate. The new reality of journalism" AUTHOR: Mario Crespo Alcaraz Director: Emilio Martínez Navarro Department of Philosophy University of Murcia I. Objectives 1) To analyse the change that journalism has undergone over recent decades in terms of its social role. 2) To describe the main aspects of the crisis suffered by the sector (the profitability of newspaper corporations, the loss of audience, the reduction in the volume of advertising and its effectiveness, the quality of information and social prestige) and to examine its relation with the change in the social role played by journalism in order to demonstrate that the current crisis in journalism and the communication business is a result of business practices which are unethical and a perspective that sees journalism as a business instead of a public service. 3) To evaluate the role played by new technologies in this crisis. 4) To anticipate the future trends of the new reality of communications. 5) To determine the role and responsibility of journalists in the process of change being experienced by journalism and their loss of autonomy and influence in terms of the information published. 6) To evaluate the informational alienation experienced by the audience, as well as their capacity for forming their own views on the information received, and the key role that audience responses (audience attrition or journalism 3.0) may have played in the structural crisis of the information sector. 7) To investigate the new ethical problems that have emerged from the transformation of journalism and the media crisis. 8) To establish which proposals in the field of ethics may enable a recovery of the politico-social dimension of information, thus contributing towards democracy in the new reality of communications. II. Methodology Drawing on a wide selection of publications, this study incorporates analyses carried out by communication theorists, testimonials from professionals, studies of legal standards, historical references to journalism, interviews, data analysis, reflections provided by veteran journalists and communication enterprises, economic references from the sector and proposals from numerous fields. III Conclusions 1. The fact that journalism has been managed in the same way as a large-scale business has resulted in a significant change in the social role assigned to it by citizens, democratic political systems and their fundamental laws, with its social function being played down while the private gain derived from it is increased. 2. From the 1980s onwards, the commercial exploitation of the media, as well as mass media products and technologies, has led to the economic expansion of this business sector driven by the commercial success of television. 3. Today, the media is managed in a way that is driven by productivity and economic profitability, directing business investment into technological applications to the detriment of the quality of contents and the stability of the journalism industry workforce, which are now subordinated to the news agenda and the vested interests of the stable sources. 4. In order to overcome this crisis, journalism will need to undergo a significant transformation in terms of its exploitation, broadcasting/publication and consumption. The future will be increasingly marked by technology, more complex profitability, and with audience behaviour which is less massive and more active. Other factors will include the following: the separation of the product from its support; the written press will fall into a deeper crisis but will not disappear entirely; possible new formulas for digital convergence as there were with audiovisual forms; social journalism or journalism 3.0 will continue to move forward, although its relation with current and future forms of commercial journalism is unclear; new business models will emerge which have not been contemplated up to now; good journalism will be available, but it is possible that this may not take the same form as the means and products currently available; the future of journalism will be decided by profitability, although non-profit-making forms of journalism may be successful in parallel with or on the fringes of traditional forms, even if these new forms do not attract large audiences. 5. Journalists have lost a significant amount of professional autonomy when writing up their reports, as well as their capacity to influence the end result and the presentation of their work. Professionals are faced with the internal pressures applied by their bosses so as not to damage the economic interests allied to the news corporation, and with the limitations imposed by the emphasis on productivity, self-censorship and poor working conditions. 6. The entire audience suffers from informational alienation that contrasts with the increase in the self-determination of individuals which is expressed in responses such as journalism 3.0 or citizen journalism. 7. The changing social role of journalism, the hyper-development of communications, the conception of information as business, the crisis in the sector, as well as new technologies, have aggravated traditional ethical problems and other second-generation ethical problems have emerged. 8. Journalism ethics and the quality of contents constitute two crucial elements in the construction of a different kind of information system capable of restoring the balance between its social function and business profit. Key words Ethics / journalism / journalism ethics / journalists / countervailing / journalism 3.0 / self-regulation / deontology / fourth estate / objectivity