Mindful Journalism and News Ethics in the Digital Era: A Buddhist Approach (Routledge Research in Journalism)

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. Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Tables and Figures 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 1 Journalism and Happiness 31 2 The Journalist as No Self 49 3 The Journalist as Change Agent 63 Excursus: Change from Conflict to Harmony 75 4 Significance of Mutual Causality 85 5 Harmony with Nature 104 Excursus: Mindful Journalism = 'Pooh Way'? 112 6 No Conspicuous Consumption 121 Excursus: The Buddhist Concept of Truth (Sacca) 138 7 The Journalist and the Middle Path 143 8 Journalism and Ethical Conduct 156 9 Journalism and Mental Cultivation 175 10 Wisdom in Journalism 191 11 Conclusion 211 Appendix: Buddhist Goals of Journalism and the News Paradigm 226 Glossary 238 Contributors 240 Author Index 244 Subject Index 248 1. Journalism and happiness / Shelton A. Gunaratne -- 2. The journalist as no self / Shelton A. Gunaratne -- 3. The journalist as change agent / Patchanee Malikhao and Jan Servaes -- 4. Significance of mutual causality / Shelton A. Gunaratne -- 5. Harmony with nature / Shelton A. Gunaratne -- 6. No Conspicuous consumption -- 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. Wisdom in journalism / Kalinga Seneviratne -- 11. Conclusion / Shelton A. Gunaratne, Mark Pearson, and Sugath Senarath