The “social and ethical responsibility” of the means of communication will be discussed at the European Parliament on 29 and 30 August at the first “European summit of ethics”, promoted by the “European Ethics Network”, a coordination of associations founded with the aim of making an “ethical contribution” to the various social questions. The meeting in Brussels will be preceded by a “pre-summit” devoted to the ethical responsibility of the mass media. In particular, reflection will be devoted to the “competitive pressure” that is to “the detriment of quality of information”; that privileges news about the most industrialized countries at the expense of the poorer ones; that tries to increase its ratings also by the way it reports wars and social conflicts; and that is obsessed by the need to make scoops at all costs. Another issue to be discussed is “the threat to the independence” of communication due to a “growing concentration” of the media in the hands of “ever larger” industrial groups. For further information: www.ethicsnet.be.
