The Good, The Bad and The Morally Grey: The Ethics of Journalism in Film

Abstract

This thesis examines the portrayal of journalists in feature films and treats the films as cultural artefacts, which represent many of the prevailing attitudes and public expectations of the contemporary news media. It considers three films Good Night, and Good Luck (2004), Lions For Lambs (2007) and State of Play (2009) and uses three ethical frameworks, John Stuart Mill‟s Utilitarianism, Immanuel Kant‟s Deontological ethics and the Society of Professional Journalist‟s Code of Ethics to closely examine the actions of the journalists. After applying these frameworks to the films, the thesis examines the ethical framework favoured by filmmakers and analyses the work of these journalists as indicative of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary news media in the popular imagination. The thesis discusses how films containing journalists as characters shape public expectations of their real life counterparts and if there are indeed any suitable recommendations that can be applied as best practice to the work of journalists in the evolving news media industries