Research Essay/Case Study
You will write a 3,000-word essay on a topic of your own devising, relevant to module themes.
Remember to focus on the behaviour of media professionals with regard to the issue you have chosen, and on the ethical debates given rise to in the media coverage of that issue, and not the issue itself. (ethics theories such as hedonism, virtue theory, eudaemonia or deontology)
For example if you are looking at the News of the World phone hacking scandal you need to describe and comment on the journalists involved and the ethical rules they may have violated.
Concentrate on the ethical issues involved. For example, regarding the issue you have chosen, did the journalist/advertiser/photographer/PR practitioner (or media company/publisher etc.) concerned behave ethically? If not what ethical rules did they infringe; what were the ethical principles at issue? What debates in Media Ethics are relevant to your chosen case study?
Avoid going into the broader issue behind the case study that you are describing, e.g. if you looking at the portrayal of women by advertisers do not argue that women are badly treated in the advertising industry.
Instead stay focused on what the advertisers did and how their actions met or did not meet their professional ethical requirements, or link your discussion of the actions and requirements to approaches to media ethics in general.
Use a structure something like this:
– Introduction – briefly describe the event or incident that is the focus of your study
– Background – provide a detailed account of the event and relevant antecedents and outcomes; include samples from the media texts or images that you are concerned with
– Ethical principles and concepts – describe the ethical issues involved, refer to the relevant professional code of ethics and to Media Ethics (including, where appropriate, the philosophical ethics underpinning Media Ethics)
– Analysis – comment on whether you think the media professionals involved acted ethically or unethical, referring to the relevant ethical principles
– Conclusion – sum up your findings; what are the lessons that can be learned from your case study?
– Bibliography – list all your sources
In your assessments on this module you will be expected to:
– 1. Demonstrate your understanding of theories and concepts covered in the module (assessment one and two).
– 2. Relate the theoretical texts discussed to their contexts (assessment two);
– 3. Use materials which provide contextual information and/or critical opinions appropriately (assessment one and two).
– 4. In the case of assessment two you should make sure you are answering the question posed by your title and not simply rehearsing arbitrarily-chosen information about a topic, author or event you happen to be using in your case study;
– 5. In your case study (assessment two), provide a bibliography and references in the approved style (Harvard is generally recommended style for media).
– 6. Write grammatically correct English (assessment one and two);
– 7. Refer to some of the ideas explored during the lectures and seminars (assessment one and two);
