Global Pandemics and Media Ethics

Tendai Chari is a senior lecturer in media studies at the University of Venda, South Africa.Martin N. Ndlela is a professor of media and communication at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway.

This stunning book is a world-class anthology on personal responsibility and the collective good. Communication studies as a whole and media ethics specifically need a major transformation into the international. Global Pandemics and Media Ethics demonstrates decisively how world-level scholarship ought to be done. Instead of working parochially from the West to the world, every chapter is an authority on countries and regions from five continents. The research methodology in all three sections without exception is comprehensive and absolutely suited to the issues, with especially keen insight into the impact of digital technology. The book's thesis is innovative in contending that pandemic crises illuminate the crucial challenges for media ethics in cross-cultural and global terms. The recommendations in every chapter for ethical theory, for truth in journalism education and practice, and for public policy give this compelling book enduring significance. -Clifford Christians, Research Professor of Communications Emeritus, University of Illinois USAGlobal Pandemics and Media Ethics: Issues and Perspectives is an important book in view of continuing debates around the Fourth Estate’s responsibility to report truthfully, credibly, and without bias; important factors that help shape public opinion. The volume fulfills an important function as it seeks to scrutinize the media’s role in the social and political polarization the world has seen during the Covid-19 pandemic while offering ways to counter these negative effects. The volume raises important questions regarding ethical issues and dilemmas the media encounters within an ever-changing and evolving press landscape. -Maha Bashri, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Creative Industries, United Arab Emirates University, UAE.

• PART I: OVERVIEW: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVESChapter 1. Introduction: Rethinking Media Ethics During Health Pandemics Chapter 2. Axiological Dimensions in COVID-19 Pandemic Discourses. A comparative analysis of Germany, France and RomaniaChapter 3. Emotional Mood and Its Ethics in Crisis CommunicationPART II: ETHICAL CHALLENGESChapter 4. Ethical challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of Journalists in ZimbabweChapter 5. The Virus of ‘Blame’: How Television News Transposed Islamophobia onto the COVID-19 Pandemic in IndiaChapter 6. Professional, Ethical Conflict or a Power Grab? The Case Study of Index during the 2020 COVID–19 PandemicChapter 7. COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and their implications on journalism ethics in South Africa and ZimbabwePART III: INFODEMICSChapter 8. COVID-19, the Global Pandemic and Japanese Media: Limitations of Agenda Setting by Mass Media and Misinformation in Social MediaChapter 9. COVID-19 disinfodemic and journalism ethics in South Africa’s mainstream news media ecosystemChapter 10. Why we should overcome the "infodemic" accountChapter 11. Information, state of alert and propaganda in Spain: Use of social media by Andalusian political parties during the COVID-19 pandemicContributorsIndexGlossary