The Impact of the Media

Coeditor, The Impact of the Media on Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2022) (with Michael Welker, Jürgen von Hagen and Stephen Pickard)
 
Volume 8 of a 10 volume series on Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies.
​
Project Series Description (Canopy Forum article)
 
List of Series Volumes Reprinted
Description

Pluralism has become the defining characteristic of modern societies. Individuals with differing values clamor for equality. Organizations and groups assert particular interests. Social movements flourish and fade. Some see in this clash of principles and aims the potential for a more just human community, while others fear a cultural erosion. Yet beneath this welter stand powerful and pervasive institutions, whose distinctive norms profoundly shape our moral commitments and character.

Specialists on media and communication, journalism, television, theologians, economists, sociologists, philosophers and ethicists discuss the many functions and challenges the media pose to the communication and orientation in late modern pluralistic societies. Contributions come from Germany, the UK, France, the USA, South Africa, and Australia.
Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments 
  • Preface to the Series
  • Introduction – Michael Welker and Jürgen von Hagen

Part One: Media and Values
  • The Texture of Values in the Media of Media Society: Preliminary Observations – Günter Thomas​

Part Two: Media, Economics, and Ethics 
  • Media Economics: Overview and Recent Developments – Jürgen von Hagen and Matthias Vollbracht
  • Clicks. Likes, and Cookies: The Trading of Active and Possible Attention in Media-Saturated Societies – Günter Thomas
  • Are Social Networks Media? The Problematic Financial Classification as Communication Services Companies – Katrin Gülden Le Maire

Part Three: Media, Values, and Crises​
  • Datafied Media and the Silent Derangement of Ethics – Nick Couldry
  • Seeing a Crisis Through Media: Narrating the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Early Twenty-First Century – Julia Sonnevend and Olivia Steiert
  • Contemporary Media and the Crisis of Values – Bert Olivier
 
Part Four: Ethical Potentials and Problems in Media Communications
  • ​Why Moral Agency Is Crucial to Mainstream Cinema – James Mairata
  • Trolls and Bullies: A South African Case Study of Cyber-Misogyny and the Media – Lizette Rabe
  • "Attitude" Can Damage Attitude When Journalists Abuse Their Power – Bodo Hombach
​
  • Contributors