"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king..." Shakespeare was repeating what the ancient Greeks had pioneered--if you want to tell a moral lesson and have it remembered, then make it entertaining. Chad Painter and Lee Wilkins explore how popular culture explains media ethics and the philosophy that is key to solid ethical thinking. Each chapter focuses on a key ethical concept, anchors the discussion of that concept in a contemporary or classic accessible film, analyzes decisions made in that film with other popular culture artifacts, and grounds the analysis in appropriate philosophical thought. The book focuses on core philosophical concepts of media ethics--truth telling, loyalty, privacy, public service, media economics, social justice, advocacy, and accountability--as they are examined through the lens of narrative film, television, and music. Discussion questions and online instructor materials further course applicability while the popular culture examples make ethical theory accessible and exciting for students and professors from a variety of academic backgrounds.

"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king..." Shakespeare was repeating what the ancient Greeks had pioneered--if you want to tell a moral lesson and have it remembered, then make it entertaining. Chad Painter and Lee Wilkins explore how popular culture explains media ethics and the philosophy that is key to solid ethical thinking. Each chapter focuses on a key ethical concept, anchors the discussion of that concept in a contemporary or classic accessible film, analyzes decisions made in that film with other popular culture artifacts, and grounds the analysis in appropriate philosophical thought. The book focuses on core philosophical concepts of media ethics--truth telling, loyalty, privacy, public service, media economics, social justice, advocacy, and accountability--as they are examined through the lens of narrative film, television, and music. Discussion questions and online instructor materials further course applicability while the popular culture examples make ethical theory accessible and exciting for students and professors from a variety of academic backgrounds.

This book examines perhaps the most contentious election in modern US history-the 2016 United States presidential election. It is unique in its discussion of a wide range of issues affecting the news media coverage of the election, coming from an equally diverse range of intellectual perspectives including the rhetorical, social-scientific, communication studies, and media studies. With eleven chapters grounded in hard evidence and communication theory, The 2016 American Presidential Campaign and the News: Implications for American Democracy and the Republic examines significant topics such as fake news, media construction of Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump's campaign personalities, media bias, visual meme depictions of the candidates, identity politics in the news, Trump's Twitter use, entertainment news, and social media as news. These chapters individually and collectively provide a direct commentary on the implications of the 2016 campaign news coverage for the future of the American Republic and political communication in the media.