Navigating the influence of African media: ethical dilemmas in the digital age
Keywords:
Normative ethics, disinformation, new media, global ethics, African mediaAbstract
This study examined how African identities influence ethical dilemmas in the digital age. Global ethics in journalism, particularly in the digital age, deserves attention considering the amount of content readily available to the masses. To investigate the challenges, a qualitative cross-sectional design is used and thematically analyzed. The findings indicate that the rise of citizen journalism and the development of deontological ethics of new media are the main factors in the failure of the profession in Africa. Citizen Journalism triggered the violation of normative ethical issues, like, privacy and pornography. This problem is also acculturated in the African media. Several debates challenge global thinking about normative media ethics, particularly in Africa media. A new generation of media ethics emanates from current controversies and debates, and there is a green light and a growing concern about the development of global media ethics. Moreover, it affects accuracy in terms of source reliability, the nature of audiences. I suggest that media ethics should not ignore the current global thinking of developing universal global media ethics to restrict local ethical enforcement. The pull of drawing local media ethics and political context should be reversed because it subjugates the practice of journalism, the profession, and citizens' rights to information.
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