WESTERN UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
Undergraduate Course Outline 2025
PHILOSOPHY 2730G
Media Ethics
Winter Term Instructor: Dean Proessel
On-line Office Hours: via zoom, TBA
Email: dproesse@uwo.ca
PREREQUISITE CHECKING
“Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean
to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This
decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you
are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.”
DESCRIPTION
This course is an introduction to various political and ethical issues that arise when
considering the function and practice of the media. These include: What is ethical theory
and what are the duties and responsibilities of those engaged in disseminating
information? What is the relation between the media and the market? Is the news a mere
commodity? Is the mass media a “propaganda machine” representing the commercial
interests of the property class? Or, is the media an instrument of democracy, a “fourth
estate” fostering the pursuit of truth and objectivity? What are the foundations and limits
of freedom of the press in a liberal society? What is the role of the media in the formation
of social, civic and moral space? Do we live in a post-truth world and how is this related
to the phenomenon of fake news? What might it mean to say that our experiences are
mediated and how in a globalized world do such mediations construct and make possible
the appearance of distant others? What risks and promises do these mediations pose for
the other? What, for instance, is the connection between the media and political violence
or between the media and minorities? What role can the media play in the construction
of a just moral order? Should journalists be considered professionals, and how have new
communication technologies shaped the practice of journalism?
TEXTS
All readings are posted on Brightspace OWL.
OBJECTIVES
In examining the sorts of questions and issues mentioned above, our aim will be to
develop skills of critical reasoning and thus a way of thinking that can be applied to all
walks of life. Specifically, students will learn to identify arguments and to assess their
plausibility. Above all, they will learn to see issues from a variety of perspectives and to
critically respond to claims made by others by formulating their own arguments.
METHOD OF EVALUATION
Paper 1 35% (due February 14)
Paper 2 35% (due March 27)
Final Exam 30% (TBA)
AUDIT
Students wishing to audit the course should consult with the instructor prior to or during the first
week of classes.
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY POLICIES
The Department of Philosophy policies that govern the conduct, standards, and expectations for
student participation in Philosophy courses are available in the Undergraduate section of the
Department of Philosophy website http://uwo.ca/philosophy/undergraduate/policies.html.
It is your responsibility to understand the policies set out by the Senate and the Department of
Philosophy, and thus ignorance of these policies cannot be used as grounds of appeal.
ACCOMMODATION
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams,
participation components and/or assignments worth 10% or more of their final grade must apply
to the Academic Counselling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic
accommodation cannot be granted by the instructor or department. Documentation shall be
submitted, as soon as possible, to the Office of the Dean of the student’s Faculty of registration,
together with a request for relief specifying the nature of the accommodation being requested.
The UWO Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness and further information regarding this
policy can be found at
http://uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf.
EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
At least three days prior to the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty,
students will receive an assessment of work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade. For
3000- or 4000-level courses in which such a graded assessment is impracticable, the instructor(s)
must obtain an exemption from this policy from the Dean and this exemption must be noted on the
corresponding course syllabus. In rare instances and at the Dean’s discretion, other courses could
receive a similar exemption, which also must be noted in the course syllabus.
COURSE ASSIGNMENT
The last day of scheduled classes in any course will be the last day on which course assignments
will be accepted for credit in a course. Instructors will be required to return assignments to students
as promptly as possible with reasonable explanations of the instructor's assessment of the
assignment.
ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy,
specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
PLAGIARISM CHECKING
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial
plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All
papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database
for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the
service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario
and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com.
SUPPORT SERVICES
Registrarial Services http://www.registrar.uwo.ca
Student Support Services https://student.uwo.ca/psp/heprdweb/?cmd=login
Services provided by the USC http://westernusc.ca/services/
Student Development Centre http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Immediate help in the event of a crisis can be had by phoning 519.661.3030 (during class hours)
or 519.433.2023 after class hours and on weekends.
