ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a series of ethical issues confronting mainstream Western news broadcasters, with a primary focus on the United Kingdom and United States. It begins with the foundations of ethics in the area of broadcast news journalism, the regulatory framework and the complex relationship with other forms of media. The chapter argues that these are in fact age-old dilemmas that go to the heart of the role of journalism in society. It explores through a series of case studies — including that of drummer Rigby — several main areas in which broadcasters are facing recurring ethical and moral challenges. Firstly, it examines the tension between news and the business of news. Secondly, it examines the benefits and risks around user-generated content, key to engaging disaffected audiences but often laden with propaganda and — all too often in the Middle East conflict — gruesome images of victims of war and terror.
