'I'm an ethicist get me out of here!': Conference will question global media obsession with celebrity

The media's celebrity obsession and its effect on society is a key theme at this year's annual conference of the Institute of Communication Ethics at Coventry University on October 28.

The event, 'I'm an ethicist... get me out of here: Communication, celebrity and conscience in a global media age', will aim to explore some of the major ethical issues facing communication professionals and practitioners today, its organisers said.

Nick Jones, former BBC reporter and currently an author and active member of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF), is to give the keynote, exploring the hyper-personalisation of media coverage of politics.

"Here in the UK and globally the corporate media appears obsessed with celebrities - such as randy royals, reality TV stars and sporting 'heroes,'" said Richard Lance Keeble, professor of journalism at the University of Lincoln and a director of ICE.

"Can this trend be reversed? Does the politics of celebrity culture serve to marginalise more significant issues and perspectives - thus contributing to the 'dumbing down' of the media and the rise of 'churnalism'?

"In this global media age, can we speak meaningfully of global ethical communication standards? These are just a few of the major questions we'll be exploring at the conference."

Contributions to the conference will be published in a special issue of Ethical Space, the quarterly journal of the institute.

The conference, with free entry to students, will run from 10am to 12:30pm and be followed by the international online conference, supported by Journalism.co.uk, 'Is world journalism in crisis?', in the Humber Theatre, Coventry University from 2-5pm.

For further details contact Katherine Hill: K.Hill [at] leedstrinity.ac.uk.

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