'Relatively Civilised, Relatively European’: Journalism and Moral Misinformation
What ethical responsibilities should guide journalists when reporting on crises? In this talk, Farbod Akhlaghi, whose research focuses on moral philosophy, will examine the responsibilities journalists have to avoid spreading moral misinformation.
Journalism plays a crucial role in our societies. Take the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reporting on that war has been vital to teach us of the reality on the ground, including of numerous moral wrongs perpetrated during the war.
Within coverage of the refugee crises the war created, however, something noteworthy happened. Numerous journalists emphasised the Whiteness or Europeanness of Ukrainians, contrasting them with Arab, African, or other non-White refugees from, for example, Syria, Yemen, or Afghanistan. Such emphasis strikes many of us as morally unacceptable.
But what, precisely, was wrong with this reporting, and what does it teach us about the ethics of journalism? In this talk, Assistant Professor in Moral Philosophy Farbod Akhlaghi will offer an answer to these questions.
Farbod will argue that, beyond standard journalistic duties concerning, for example, impartiality, honesty, and accuracy, journalists have another special duty: to avoid moral misinformation. This, he argues, has important consequences for existing codes of journalistic ethics.
Date | Thursday, 6th February 2025
Time | 7.00pm - 8.30pm
Location | The Synge Theatre, The Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Farbod Akhlaghi
Farbod is Assistant Professor in Moral Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. Before this, he was Stipendiary Junior Research Fellow in Philosophy at Christ's College, University of Cambridge (2021-2024), and a Visiting Research Fellow at Trinity (2023-2024). In May 2024, he was also Caroline Miles Visiting Scholar at the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford. His primary research focuses on moral philosophy, metaphysics, & their intersections.