 |
LEC721S - LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN COMMUNICATION - 2ND OPP - JANUARY 2023 |
|
|
1 Page 1 |
▲back to top |
nAmI BI AunIVERSITY
OF SCIEnCE Ano
FACULTY OF COMMERCE, HUMAN SCIENCE AND EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGES
QUALIFICATION: BACHELOR OF COMMUNICATION
QUALIFICATION CODE: 07BACO
LEVEL: 7
COURSE CODE: LEC721S
COURSE NAME: LEGALAND ETHICAL ISSUESIN
COMMUNICATION
SESSION: NOVEMBER 2022
DURATION: TWO HOURS
PAPER: {PAPER 1}
MARKS: 50
SECOND OPPORTUNITY EXAMINATION QUESTION PAPER
EXAMINER{S) Dr C PEEL,MR T ASINO
MODERATOR: Dr. M NASSOR
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Answer TWO questions only.
2. Read all the questions carefully before answering them.
3. Indicate whether you are a FT, PT, or DE student.
THIS QUESTION PAPER CONSISTS OF _9_ PAGES {Including this front page)
|
|
2 Page 2 |
▲back to top |
QUESTION 1
LEC
25 MARKS
Attached to the end of this examination paper (Appendix 1 and Appendix 2) are two
sets of ethical codes. One has the characteristics of a code of ethics, and the other has
supervisory language about how members should conduct themselves.
(a)
Distinguish between the characteristics of the two codes.
{3 marks)
(b)
Which of the two codes do you consider more useful to a
Communications practitioner? Give reasons for your answer. {2 marks)
(c)
Generate your own two separate codes (one a code of ethics,
The other a code of conduct), each to be used in a sector of
your choice within the communications industry. State clearly
which one of these is a code of ethics and which one is a code of
conduct. Each code should be crafted using the following structure:
Preamble, code of ethics .......................................................................(5 marks)
At least five principles of a code of ethics ............................................{5 marks)
Preamble, code of conduct .....................................................................(5 marks)
At least five principles of a code of conduct .........................................{5 marks)
QUESTION 2
· 25 MARKS
Affixed to the back of this question paper (see Appendix 3) is a report of a Citizen
TV news crew which filmed a woman about to give birth after she was turned away
from a hospital during a nationwide strike by health workers in Kenya. Analyse the
circumstances of the case by reading and grasping the details of the account, and
then responding fully to the following questions:
(a) What were the choices available to the reporter and news crew? {3 marks)
(b) If you were the reporter on the scene, and were influenced by Francis
Kasoma's principles of Afri-Ethics, explain and justify how you would have
responded to the situation, using Kasoma's principles.
{11 marks)
(c) In your estimation, which category or categories of ethical principles did the
Citizen TV news crew ultimately use: virtue ethics, utilitarian ethics, of duty
ethics? Give elaborate reasons for your choice, citing the scholar(s) who
originated the principles you have chosen.
{11 marks)
2
|
|
3 Page 3 |
▲back to top |
QUESTION 3
25 MARKS
In a critique of Immanuel l<ant's ethical theory, McCarty (1991, p.65) writes: "At
some points, Kant's doctrines seem outrageous ...".
(a) Give an example of how the categorical imperative of Kant's ethics creates
huge dilemmas for ethical practice ............................................................5. marks
(b) Explain how W.D. Ross's notions of moral regret, prima facie duty, and actual
or absolute duty may relieve the stressful dilemmas created for the decision
maker in your example ....................................................................3. x5 = 15 marks
(c) Kant is described by McCarty as "notorious for bluntly denying the possibility
of conflicting obligations". For Kant wrote: " ...if it is our duty to act according
to one of these rules, then to act according to the opposite one is not our duty
and is even contrary to duty" (cited in McCarty, 1991, p.67). Defend McCarty's
statement using the arguments of your answers to questions (a) and (b).
QUESTION 4
25 MARKS
Using accurate definitions and examples in each case, identify and distinguish
between the four categories of conventional media ownership.
(a) Identifying the four categories of ownership .........................................4 marks
(b) Defining the four categories of ownership ..............................................8 marks
(c) Detailed explanations of differences in ownership between the four
categories, giving examples of each category .......................................13 marks
QUESTION 5
25 MARKS
List and explain the safeguards that can be used to prevent copyright infringement in
Namibia.
(a) List of five safeguards ...................................................................................5. marks
(b) A detailed explanation of each safeguard .......................................5x4 =20 marks
End of Examination Question Paper
Total: SO marks
IAppendices 1J2 and 3 follow ....
3
|
|
4 Page 4 |
▲back to top |
APPENDIX 1: EXAMPLE OF A CODE OF ETHICS
Preamble
[...]
Principles
INTEGRITY
Maintain honesty and clear communication in the workplace
TEAMWORK
Work together to get the job done
OBJECTIVITY
Do not make career decisions based on whom you like best.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Maintain clients' confidentiality at all times.
GROWTH
Always pursue professional growth.
Appendix 2 follows/ ....
4
|
|
5 Page 5 |
▲back to top |
APPENDIX 2: EXAMPLE OF A CODE OF CONDUCT
Code of Conduct for sports club administrators and coaches
Preamble
[...]
Principles
AS AN ADMINISTRATOR I WILL:
o Create pathways for club members to participate not just as players, but
also as coaches, referees, administrators, etc.
• Ensure that rules, equipment, length of games and training schedules are
modified to suit the age, ability, and maturity level of players.
• Ensure quality supervision and coaching for players.
• Remember that players participate for their enjoyment and benefit.
• Help coaches and officials highlight appropriate behaviour and skill
development, and help to improve the standards of coaching and officiating.
• Ensure that everyone involved in sport emphasises fair play.
• Distribute a code of conduct to players, coaches, officials and parents and
encourage them to follow it.
• Respect the rights, dignity and worth of all people involved in each sports
discipline regardless of their gender, ability, or cultural background ..
• Promote adherence to anti-doping policies.
AS AN ADMINISTRATOR I WILL NOT:
• Arrive at the venue intoxicate or drink alcohol at junior matches.
• Allow the unlawful supply of alcohol at training, games, or club functions.
• Use bad language, nor will I harass players, coaches, officials or spectators.
5
|
|
6 Page 6 |
▲back to top |
Sports coaches/ ...
AS A SPORTSCOACH I WILL:
o Remember that players participate for enjoyment and winning is only part
of the fun.
o Never ridicule or yell at players for making funa mistake or not winning.
0 Be reasonable in my demands on players' time, energy and enthusiasm.
o Operate within the rules and spirit of the game and teach my players to do
the same.
o Ensure that the time players spend with me is a positive experience. All
players are deserving of equal attention and opportunities.
(!) Avoid overplaying the talented players and understand that the average
players need and deserve equal time.
e Ensure that equipment and facilities meet safety standards and are
appropriate to the age and ability of all players.
o Display control, respect and professionalism to all involved with the sport
including opponents, referees, coaches, officials, administrators, the media,
parents and spectators. I will encourage my players to do so.
AS A SPORTSCOACH I WILL NOT:
o Arrive at the venue intoxicate or drink alcohol at junior matches.
o Allow the unlawful supply of alcohol at training, games, or club functions.
o Use bad language, nor will I harass players, coaches, officials or spectators.
Appendix 3 follows/ ...
6
|
|
7 Page 7 |
▲back to top |
APPENDIX 3
In quest for a great story, Citizen
TV cre-wwatches a baby die
during birth
By
LUKE MULUNDA
Jan 7, 2017
Ann Mawathe, who reports features for Citizen TV, trailed a woman in labour until she gave birth to
a dead baby.
What was supposed to be a human-interest story on the ongoing strike by nurses has
left Citizen TV reporter Ann Mawathe with egg all over her face. Ms Mm,vathe, her
camera person and their driver - in search of what would be an award-wining story -
gleefully trailed a pregnant woman who had been turned away from Pumwani Hospital
7
|
|
8 Page 8 |
▲back to top |
to St Mary's Hospital in Lang'ata, 10km away, and ,,vatched as she finally delivered but
lost the baby.
Kenyans have reacted sharply to the story, aired on Citizen prime time news on Friday
January 6th, criticizing the reporter and the TV station of being grossly inhuman. In the
story, Ms Mm,vathe and her team followed the woman, who was in labour, as she
struggled in vain to get medical help at the state-owned Pumwani Hospital. After she
,,1,ratsurned away, the Citizen TV crew pursued her in heavy Nairobi traffic, filming every
move as she boarded a matatu (public transport) at Eastleigh area in her desperate
search for a hospital with nurses.
Many TV watchers say the least the Citizen TV crew should have done is be
compassionate to offer transport to the nearest hospital or even, in a show of good
corporate citizenship, book her at the nearest private hospital such as Guru Nanak, MP
Shah, Aga Khan or even Nairobi Hospital.
This has raised debate on where to draw the line between being empathetic with a news
subject and media ethics that require journalists not to be involved in the activities
being covered. On a humanitarian ground, however, Kenyans feel Citizen TV and its
crew failed the pregnant woman and her family, as journalism ethics do not bar
journalists from saving lives or averting a disaster. Some journalists, though, are known
to instigate a situation to result into a hot story.
Many believe the Citizen TV story ended the way any reporter would have loved: agony
and death that give a story the shocking elements and juicy anecdotes. But does it have
to take such avoidable death for the media house or reporter to be heard or to stand out
for that matter?
lVIediamax example
Here is an excellent example of journalists dumping ethics to save a life. On July 23,
2016, a Mediamax Network van ferrying crew to an assignment at Ewang'an Primary
School stopped to help a woman who had just delivered herself of a baby in Kajiado.
Deep in the recesses of Maasai plains, Josephine Ndanin lay writhing in pain. The
woman had just given birth, with the only assistance at hand b.eing her two daughters.
0
|
|
9 Page 9 |
▲back to top |
The girls explained that their mother needed help to get back home, 10 kilometres
away, because she was experiencing childbirth pains - the crew offered a helping hand.
Ndanin had given birth to a healthy baby girl who was named Mayian, a Maasai word for
blessing (and name of Mediamax Maa vernacular FM station).
Outside journalism, in July 2010, Kenya Ailways in-flight crew delivered a baby girl on
board a flight that had just landed from Muscat, Oman in Nairobi. A well-trained Kenya
Airways in Flight crew delivered the bouncing baby girl. The crew laid the woman in the
aisle in economy class while others held up a blanket to create a makeshift delivery
room.
These two cases show that professionals can go an extra mile to save a life or bring life
to the world. TVs often screen investigative stories where people are mugged, stabbed
and even killed in front of their rolling cameras. Footage of fire or accident victims
writhing in pain abound, while journalists are happy to roll their cameras instead of
offering help.
[This story has been abridged.]
Source: https:/ /businesstoday .co.ke/in-guest-for-a-great-storv-citizen-tv-crew-films-a-babv-
die-during-birth/
9
|
|
10 Page 10 |
▲back to top |
nAmlBIA
un1VERSI Y
OF SCl:n: RnD
TECHnCLO Y
P/Bag13388
Windhoek
NAMIBIA
2022-10-18
FACULTY OF HUMAN SCIENCES
DEPT:TECHNICAL AtW VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION AND TRAINING