Utilitarianism and Photo Manipulation - Literature review Example

Utilitarianism and Photo Manipulation In the recent past, trust and faith in journalism and media have profoundly increased as reliable sources of information across the world. The mass has increasing relied on the media to provide accurate and dependable information about their surroundings. Information about social violence, elections, economy, and health among other aspects of the society are largely sourced from the myriad media stations whose primary role is to inform the public about the exact occurrences without deceit. Just like any other professional field, journalism practice is guided by standard procedures and ethics that ensure operations within the field meet the threshold constituted in the guidelines. Photojournalists are specifically held to a series of professional ethical code of conducts that regulate their practice. Images and photos availed to the public are regulated by these rules to ensure they meet the moral/ethical principles. This paper seeks to evaluate the ethical theory of Utilitarianism, how it compels photojournalists to oblige by the standards that seek to meet the greater social good of the public and how it is has been practically demonstrated. Utilitarianism and Photo Manipulation Introduction In everyday operations of a journalist, the ability to make sound and positive ethical decisions that can benefit a large population is the descriptive element that defines a great journalist. According to Smith (2011), journalists are literary ‘public servants’ whose major duty is to provide the mass with undiluted information about the many occurrences they capture. However, the same journalists may sometimes be under pressure to avail to the public only news and information that they subjectively deem relevant and harmless. They may sometimes edit videos and photos they capture based on their preferences and the individual/organizational goals they want the videos and photos to meet. This has been a point of contention for a long time as different perspectives have come up with diverse opinions regarding to this particular when viewed from moral lenses. One major theory that has constantly conflicted with photojournalism is the utilitarian theory of ethics. Questions have been raised over the issue basically exploring whether photojournalism manipulation observes the principles enshrined in the utilitarian theory of ethics. There are many practical instances where photojournalists have manipulated the images through technologies such as Photoshop among others for personal interests; something that has brought several moral concerns. In this paper, attempts are made to explore comprehensively the issue of photo manipulation viewed from the angle of utilitarian ethics perspective. Utilitarian theory is a major defense that underpins photo manipulation in journalism. Presentation of Utilitarianism Theory of Ethics According to Peck and Reel (2013), every individual and organization have an obligation to structure their roles and behaviors to produce results that are beneficial to a larger population of the society. The major responsibility that individuals should be tasked and be preoccupied with is the duty of ensuring the bigger portion of the population is comfortable. Principally, ethics is about standards that safeguard appropriate practice and behavior for a better society. Ethical code of conducts are guidelines that provide operational and behavioral framework that direct individuals, organizations and institutions into the suitable channels that can help them deliver services and exhibit actions that are safe and beneficial to members of the society. Ethics do not just control a single person’s behavior. It sets the rules and regulations deemed effective to produce desirable behavior out of a large multitude. It oversees the practice of various social groups and institutions such as the journalists, media stations, government agencies among other to ensure the practices engaged in are in line with the social values and beliefs (Wilkins & Christians, 2009). Among the theories that endeavor to understand and explain ethics include the Utilitarian perspective. Spence (2011) explains that utilitarian theory is an outlook on ethical issues from the larger circles. Utilitarian theory of ethics posits that a behavior is only good when it serves to meet positively the needs of a larger portion of the society. An action, according to this theory is morally right if it capitalizes its utility. The pleasure or happiness an action brings to a big population in the society makes it achieve its moral acceptability. This perspective looks beyond happiness of a single person to the general population. For example, if one commits suicide to save a big number whose lives were at the blink then the person’s action is justifiable considered to be right. What judges one’s action is the pleasure or displeasure it promotes among the majority of the members of the society. Sacrificing one’s pleasure for a significant group to live in happiness is therefore, morally acceptable no matter the circumstance that is done. The basic concepts covered in utilitarianism theory include the examination of consequences. The perspective is embedded on the consequentialism perspective that regards the end as the justifier of the means. In Utilitarianism, the benefit a behavior produces will either make it to be morally acceptable or be dismissed (Graham, 2010). For example, the actions of a worker who gets to work late because she first go to the homes of the needy to supplier them with food are morally justified simply because their behaviors are meant to promote happiness amongst the majority members of the society. The worker sacrifices the benefits they would personally get if they attended job early for the sake of the many need persons they attend to. An organization can decide to minimize its profit by reducing the prices of its commodities to help the poor to afford their basic needs. Although this causes discomfort to a few shareholders, the benefits of these actions spread across to a vast population. Similarly, is justified to sack a CEO whose oppression has undermined the welfare of the workers in an organization. If such moves are made, the consequence of such actions (if they promote happiness or not among many) will evaluate the rightness or wrongness of those behaviors. In journalism, utilitarian theory guides many journalistic practices extensively. The obligation to promote happiness and bring benefits to a large portion of the society influences the decision journalist make. Photojournalists are expected by this theory to deliver to the public images that can bring contentment among the populace. Ethical principles generally inform journalists on what they can or cannot do with the pieces of information they collect. As already mentioned, the major objective of utilitarian actions is to benefit a relatively greater number of the populations. With this in mind, photojournalist should be in a position to determine what pictures they should show to the public based on the consequence. For example, in a case where a gruesome accident has happened, journalist may capture the photos and make their decisions to show then to the general population based on their evaluation of the impacts. Although the images from the accident may further hurt the family and friends if the victims, the photojournalist may go ahead to display them to the public if such photos will help instill fear among the public and make them observe road safety procedures and responsible driving. Going by the standards and principles of Utilitarian theory of ethics, helping the larger population through showing these frightening pictures in order to curb reckless driving is ethically right (Kane & Kane, 2013). As a matter of fact, if a photojournalism decides to edit the photos and fails to display the exact scary images that happened, the public may probably fail to relate the real dangers involved when driving recklessly. Some people will only learn when they have fallen victims and this may cause further damage to the society. However, when these images pictures are printed and showed to the public, the reality of being a victim of reckless driving dawns on people helping them to be cautious while on the roads. In the end, this actions help save the many lives that could have perished were it not for the scary images they viewed probably on the newspapers or on television. This can be a good defense that the journalist can use to rationalize why they caused harm to one family while protecting the overall population from similar problems in the future (Debatin, 2013, p. 73). Applications/Examples Consequently, photo manipulation has diverse implications on utilitarianism. In the practical world today, numerous instances of photo manipulation have been used to create diverse perceptions of events and issues. For example, the photo displayed below is edited one in which a college, in its efforts to demonstrate to the world it embraces diversity, cut an image of a black guy and included in an event cover without the person’s permission. Source: Retrieved from http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/09/02/doctoring-diversity-race-and-photoshop/ Source: Retrieved from http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/09/02/doctoring-diversity-race-and-photoshop/ The photos above demonstrated how the college (University of Wisconsin) manipulated an individual’s image to use in advocating for racial diversity. In the second image above, the black man can be seen somewhere in the top left corner, hidden and no one can notice him. In the first picture showed, the black man’s image has been magnified and he is conspicuous for any anyone to notice. The sole reason why the college engaged in this controversial act was to show the audience their school respects and embraces diversity (Wade, 2009). The doctoring of the image especially without the person’s knowledge is tantamount to infringement of the victim’s rights. Such actions can warrant legal actions in most states and nations that have laws protecting rights of individuals in this regard. However, from the point view of Utilitarian theory, such an action (doctoring an image to promoted diversity is considered moral/ethically right. According to the principles constituted in this theory, if the consequences of the action produce benefit a large portion of the society then it is morally justified. In this particular case, although the person whose photo was used could have been subjected to some harm, the eventual consequence benefited a large population who probably feared enrolling at the college because of racial discrimination. The colleges’ effort to show the world that the football event they organized was all-inclusive benefitted the minority who could have stayed away feeling the event is only for a certain race or social group. In a nutshell, Utilitarian theory deems this action of photo manipulation ethically right because in helped stage a campaign against racism that in turn benefited several people across the world (Kane & Kane, 2013). Conclusion In conclusion, journalism is a profession that is guided by ethical code of conducts. This set of principles informs, safeguard and regulate journalists’ practice and conduct. In the practical world, there are several dilemmas that people working under the umbrella of journalism experience on a daily basis. It is only through clearly set standards and rules that uniform operations can be achieved. Photojournalism is specifically challenged by the problems of deciding what to do or how to go about collecting and presenting the various images they witness in the field in such a way that both their personal and public interests are met. Utilitarian theory has sort to solve this problem by providing a standard guideline through which larger population has informed directed journalists to make decisions aimed at promoting happiness amongst the majority members of the society. An example is showed in the case where a college, in its quest to promote diversity, manipulated the image of a black guy and inserted in a different image in order to invite diverse people to an event. All in all, utilitarian theory is a major defense in photo manipulation in journalism. References Debatin, B. (2013). Media Ethics in a Fast Changing Media Environment. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 28(1), 72-74. doi:10.1080/08900523.2013.751821 Graham, G. (2010). Theories of ethics: An introduction with readings. London: Routledge. Kane, E., & Kane, E. (2010). Ethics. Campbell Hall, New York: Eileen MacAvery Kane. Peck, L., & Reel, G. (2013). Media ethics at work. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press. Smith, R. (2011). Ethics in Journalism. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Spence, E. H. (2011). Media, markets, and morals. Malden, Mass. [etc.: Wiley-Blackwell. Wade, L. (2009). Doctoring diversity: Race and photoshop » Sociological images. Thesocietypages.org. Retrieved 31 May 2015, from http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/09/02/doctoring-diversity-race-and-photoshop/ Wilkins, L., & Christians, C. (2009). The handbook of mass media ethics. New York: Routledge. Read More