Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Wednesday 17 February
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
What do we talk about when we talk about ethics? Questions of moral philosophy affect all facets of our everyday existence. There are fundamentals of decency, of responsibility, of community, that underpin and define our society, but what are they?
Every second month throughout 2010 Australia’s finest ethical thinkers and industry experts will come together to tease out those principles that run deeper than our Codes & Practices, our Rules & Regulations. How might we live an ethical life in the minefield of contemporary relations?
And where better to start than in the world of media? The first session in this series will be held in proud partnership with the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advanced Journalism on Wednesday, 17 February.
A panel of top journalists and ethical thinkers, including Paul Chadwick, Mark Danner, Gay Alcorn and Tony Coady, under the guidance of former Age editor and CAJ director Michael Gawenda, will tease out the old and new ethical dilemmas facing our journalists against the backdrop of a rapidly changing media landscape.
Presented in conjunction with University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advanced Journalism.
Featuring
Paul Chadwick
Paul Chadwick, journalist and lawyer, is the Australian on the board of Guardian Australia, was the ABC’s Director Editorial Policies 2007-12 and was Victoria’s first Privacy Commissioner 2001-06.
He aims to start up a digital information service about the operation of the law because, as media coverage of law wanes under the pressures of the internet, the public interest still needs the administration of justice to be scrutinised, explained and open.
Mark Danner
Mark Danner has reported and written on foreign affairs, politics and war for 25 years. He was for many years a staff writer at The New Yorker and contributes frequently to The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications.
His books include The Secret Way to War, Torture and Truth, The Road to Illegitimacy and The Massacre at El Mozote, which was chosen by The New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year.
Danner’s work has been honoured with a US National Magazine award, three Overseas Press Awards and an Emmy.
Gay Alcorn
Gay Alcorn began her career in Queensland, and joined The Sunday Age before its launch in 1989.
She worked as the Darwin correspondent for four years, and was The Age’s Washington correspondent from 1999-2002, where she covered both the 2000 presidential election and the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
She has won three Walkley awards, the latest in 2004 when she was part of the investigative unit which profiled former ALP leader Mark Latham. Her other Walkleys were for news and feature writing.
Gay was appointed Sunday Age editor in March 2008 after two years in the position of deputy editor for The Age.
Tony Coady
C.A.J. (Tony) Coady is Vice Chancellor’s Fellow and Professorial Fellow in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne, where he was formerly Boyce Gibson Professor of Philosophy.
He has played a major role in the growth of applied philosophy in Australia.
His book, Testimony: a philosophical study (OUP, 1992) has had a significant impact on developments in contemporary epistemology. More recently, his book Morality and Political Violence was published by Cambridge University Press in early 2008 and another book, Messy Morality: the Challenge of Politics was published by Oxford University Press late in 2008.
Many years ago he worked as a journalist in Sydney and was co-editor of The Catholic Worker in the late 1960s and early 70s. He served on the committee that revised the journalists’ code of ethics for the MEAA. He has often provided commentary on topical ethical matters for print and broadcast media.