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.In summary, the media are obligated to a vast array of claimants andmust discharge those obligations satisfactorily in order to act ethically.Andwhile obligations may differ among the various media, commonalties do ex-ist in such areas as truth telling and prohibitions against harm—topics wevisit in detail in chapters 5 and 6.As we see in the next chapter, the type ofrelationship that exists between a profession and those it serves dictates,to a very great extent, the level of ethicality that can be expected of thatprofession.EXERCISES1.Make a list of the key functional linkages that operate in your orga-nization or school.Explain why each linkage is where it is on yourlist.2.Take your list of linkages and assign ethical obligations to each en-tity.Why did you choose the obligations you did?3.Make a list of personal linkages.Notice whether the linkage con-cept you used for your organization has to be adjusted in any wayfor personal use.If you had to adjust, explain why.Apply Ross’s listof six obligations to your personal linkages.4.Do you believe the press should be free from obligation beyondthat of providing news of interest and importance to the public?Why or why not?5.Do you think the press presents a representative picture of theconstituent groups in society? Why or why not?6.How far should the press go in providing its publics with what theywant versus what they need?TLFeBOOKMORAL CLAIMANTS45HYPOTHETICAL: EDUCATION FOR SALEYou have been working for over two years now for EduMark, a marketingfirm specializing in educational products for grades K through 12.The com-pany regularly works with educators, parents, and corporate sponsors indeveloping course supplements at a small cost to schools.For example, inyour first year at EduMark, you helped develop a political science modulefor middle schools that explained the electoral process.The package in-cluded print material, a one-hour video tape, and referenced an online Website developed specifically for the educational component.The entire pack-age was sponsored by a large wood-products manufacturer whose nameand logo appeared prominently on the cover of the various elements of themodule.When you began work for EduMark, you believed there was nothingwrong with providing corporate sponsors with a way to enhance their repu-tations through educational philanthropy.Until now, you haven’t had occa-sion to doubt your choice of occupations.Recently, however, EduMark has taken a contract from a coalition ofproduct manufacturers to develop a satellite-delivered television programconsisting of news segments (both hard and soft news), public affairspieces (mostly political reporting), and some innocuous music and enter-tainment industry features.On the whole, the two-hour-a-day feed is bal-anced and harmless and provides a simplified version of what appears onmost nightly news programs—which, research shows, are not regularlywatched by school-age children.The intent is to sandwich the program intoregular classes with which one or more of the segments would be an appro-priate fit (political reporting in a class on government, or current events ina history class, for example).Other options are to run the entire programthroughout a lunch period on special televisions donated to school cafete-rias by the sponsors.What gives you pause, however, is that sandwiched between the newsand entertainment segments are commercials.The sponsors claim the com-mercials are the only way they can afford to provide the free programmingto over a thousand subscriber schools around the country.The coalition ofsponsors includes a clothing manufacturer, a soft drink company, a fast-food chain, and a toy company.The commercials appear approximately ev-ery 20 minutes and consume less than one fifth of the total programming.The sponsors rotate their commercials so that not all sponsors’ messagesappear in each daily two-hour feed.Apparently, most of the schools that have presubscribed to the servicefind the trade-off between the program content and the commercials a rea-sonable one.You have begun to wonder, however.Many of the educationalTLFeBOOK46CHAPTER 2components you have worked on to date have had no overt advertisingsave the sponsor’s name attached to the various modules they pay for.Thisnew approach strikes you as different in that the sponsorship is blatant andis sales oriented.You liken the difference to that between the approachesof commercial broadcasting and public television.You also realize that thestudents viewing this programming are something of a captive audiencethat can’t simply turn off the television.You also wonder if you might beoverreacting.QUESTIONS FOR HYPOTHETICAL1
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