Patriotism and Journalism

Abstract

This chapter critiques ethically the role of patriotism in journalism as a serious and long-standing problem for journalism ethics. The chapter has two main, and related, theses: First, a well-defined and restrained moderate patriotism best reflects the political culture of liberal democracy and is most compatible with journalism ethics. Second, in a global world, journalists and citizens should be global patriots whose primary loyalty is the promotion of global human flourishing within democratic communities. The chapter shows how to incorporate partialities such as patriotism into impartial journalism ethics. It puts forward a set of criteria for evaluating the ethical validity of concepts of patriotism and their application to specific issues and situations. The fundamental premise of the chapter is that a global world needs a global journalism ethics that transcends parochialism.