Visual Ethics: A Guide for Photographers, Journalists, and Media Makers

An indispensable guide to visual ethics, this book addresses the need for critical thinking and ethical behavior among students and professionals responsible for a variety of mass media visual messages.

Written for an ever-growing discipline, authors Paul Martin Lester, Stephanie A. Martin, and Martin Rodden-Smith give serious ethical consideration to the complex field of visual communication. The book covers the definitions and uses of six philosophies, analytical methods, cultural awareness, visual reporting, documentary, citizen journalists, advertising, public relations, typography, graphic design, data visualizations, cartoons, motion pictures, television, computers and the web, augmented and virtual reality, social media, the editing process, and the need for empathy. At the end of each chapter are case studies for further analysis and interviews with thoughtful practitioners in each field of study, including Steven Heller and Nigel Holmes. This second edition has also been fully revised and updated throughout to reflect on the impact of new and emerging technologies.

This book is an important resource for students of photojournalism, photography, filmmaking, media and communication, and visual communication, as well as professionals working in these fields.

Paul Martin Lester is Professor of Instruction in the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication at the University of Texas at Dallas and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communications at California State University, Fullerton. More information can be found at: http://paulmartinlester.info.

Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin is Associate Professor of Political Communication at Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University. She has written or edited three books, most prominently Decoding the Digital Church: Evangelical Storytelling and the Election of Donald J. Trump (2021). Her research has been published in top journals including the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, and Visual Communication Quarterly.

Martin Smith-Rodden is Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication at Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana). He was a professional visual journalist for 35 years including at The Virginian-Pilot. Much of his research focuses on twenty-firsts-century skills for visual storytelling, including media effects and development of evidence-based practices, topics in visual ethics, diversity, and inclusion in the field, as well as solutions-based and advocacy photojournalism.