This book examines the ethical concepts which lie at the heart of journalism, including freedom, democracy, truth, objectivity, honesty and privacy. The common concern of the authors is to promote ethical conduct in the practice of journalism, as well as the quality of the information that readers and audience receive from the media.

All over the world codes of conduct have been proposed for journalists. In fact ethics is inseparable from journalism, because the practice of journalism is centred on a set of essentially ethical concepts: freedom, democracy, truth, objectivity, honesty, privacy. If the proper role of journalism is seen as providing information, then the ethical questions focus on one issue: maintaining the "quality" of the information. This issue has become a matter of political controversy and public concern. Many people think the media are inaccurate and biased. The Robert Maxwell case has re-opened the issue of media ownership. Questions of censorship and freedom of information have arisen in connection with "Spycatcher", the fight against terrorism in Northern Ireland and the wars in the Falklands and the Gulf. Parliament has threatened statutory controls if the voluntary partnership of the Press Complaints Commission and the newspaper industry cannot curb gross invasions of privacy and other malpractices by the tabloid press. There is much concern about the trivialising and exploitative representation of women in the media. This book addresses issues such as these.

In this volume leading international environmental philosophers further the debate about the value of nature, the concept of the environment, and the metaphysical, ethical, social and international implications of these concepts. Philosophers have to some extent neglected the study of nature and the natural environment, and this collection not only provides a long-overdue contribution to that study, but also points to inadequacies of much contemporary ethical and political theory. For environmentalists who are not philosophers, it will stimulate reflection on their own concepts and principles.