1st Edition

Mindful Journalism and News Ethics in the Digital Era A Buddhist Approach

    240 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    252 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book aims to be the first comprehensive exposition of "mindful journalism"—drawn from core Buddhist ethical principles—as a fresh approach to journalism ethics. It suggests that Buddhist mindfulness strategies can be applied purposively in journalism to add clarity, fairness and equity to news decision-making and to offer a moral compass to journalists facing ethical dilemmas in their work. It comes at a time when ethical values in the news media are in crisis from a range of technological, commercial and social factors, and when both Buddhism and mindfulness have gained considerable acceptance in Western societies. Further, it aims to set out foundational principles to assist journalists dealing with vulnerable sources and recovering from traumatic assignments.

    Introduction Shelton Gunaratne  1. Journalism and Happiness Shelton Gunaratne  2. Journalist as No Self Shelton Gunaratne  3. The Journalist as Change Agent Patchanee Malikhao and Jan Servaes  4. Significance of Mutual Causality Shelton Gunaratne  5. Harmony with Nature Shelton Gunaratne  6. No Conspicuous Consumption Asanga Tilakaratne  7. The Journalist and the Middle Path Sugath Senarath  8. Journalism and Ethical Conduct Mark Pearson and Sugath Senarath  9. Journalism and Mental Cultivation Mark Pearson  10 Journalism and Wisdom Kalinga Seneviratne  11. Conclusion Shelton Gunaratne, Mark Pearson and Sugath Senarath

    Biography

    Shelton A. Gunaratne is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Communication  at Minnesota State University Moorhead, USA

    Mark Pearson is Professor of Journalism and Social Media in the School of Humanities at Griffith University, Australia

    Sugath Senarath is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Media at the University of Colombo Sri Palee Campus, Sri Lanka

    "This volume [...] makes a significant internatinoal contribution to the discipline by demonstrating how a Buddhist approach can build understanding of journalism's place in the world and its power, and be used to improve journalism practice." --Lisa Waller, Australian Journalism Review 37(1)

    "All in all, the book is an important contribution to the value of religions - here Buddhism - for journalism ethics though one might also argue that this is not only for journalists in the strict sense but for anybody involved in communication which is in a didtal world almost everybody." -- Franz-Josef, svd, Journal of the Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication

     

    "[T]he authors deserve many compliments for bringing out such a unified and exemplary alternative paradigm that is useful for both media academics and practitioners across the globe. Further, academics do well by prescribing this as a text as part of the curriculum of media ethics and practices in all the universities. In fact such an exercise will facilitate a broader debate and rethinking among the stakeholders on the need to revise or revisit the existing obsolescent and negative-centric media ethics and practices." --C. S. H. N. Murthy, Asian Journal of Communication

     

    "Mindful Journalism and News Ethics in the Digital Era could easily become a testament to journalism practitioners and students to measure newsworthiness by the standard of mindful gatekeeping which determines a very simple path but one that needs cultivation of a technique in a true human sense. The editor authors of this book have endeavored consistently to globalize journalism studies by the fusion of West-centric mainstream journalism studies and Eastern philosophies." --Chandrika De Alwis, The International Communication Gazette