Ethical issues raised in contemporary media Essay

Ethical issues raised in contemporary media - Essay Example However, the real trouble begins when there is no limitation on what the press can print, because the press will become less reliable over time. In addition to the pressure from the need to attract advertisers, private media must sell copies, even if those sales do not generate the major income, because advertisers want wide dispersal of their ads. Advertisements are priced on two factors: the size of the ad and the circulation of the paper. Even where the press is privately owned, not government controlled and the owners try to insure objectivity, the news is still filtered. Someone chooses what news to present to the public. As long as there is a profit motive in any enterprise, total objectivity is impossible. In the media the big money comes from advertisements, and not subscriptions, so it would be nearly impossible for the media to publish any news which adversely impacts its advertisers. In a tight market where newspapers are struggling to survive, this is doubly so. The free press is not at all free: it has a cost. The main cost is watchfulness. Historically the press has the power to influence the public. In truly participatory governed countries, the press is mandated to provide objective reports on whatever happen in the world. Many of the journalists try to do this, but of late, credibility has been severely strained by the failure of some papers to stay objective. The Staples deal in 1999 is a case in point. The Los Angeles Times was reported as having devoted an Oct. 10 issue of its magazine section to coverage of the new Staples Center sports arena, under a deal to share revenues with the center. This is decidedly a conflict of interest for an objective newspaper. (Jurkowitz, Mark 1999) Worse than this kind of conflict of interest is the exploitation of the public in order to sell newspapers. Sensational stories sell newspapers. Tabloids sell well,