The Role of Respect in Communication and Media

This thesis examines the manifestation, function, and challenges of the core value of
""respect"" within contemporary communication and media theory, praxis, and general
context and environments. It aims to clarify the conceptual and actual dimensions of
the understanding of respect in media contexts—including respect for facts, privacy,
diverse ethnic groups and audiences — and analyzes its critical role in media
evaluation, planning, production, content presentation, dissemination, and social
interaction. Through literature review, the study establishes the theoretical and ethical
foundations of the reality or value of respect in the field of communication and media.
Utilizing case studies (e.g., news reporting, film/TV, social media interactions,
advertising, but also personal experiences), it analyzes the understanding of respect,
and the the practical applications of respect, its positive effects (enhancing credibility,
promoting social harmony, ensuring accuracy, upholding dignity, fostering healthy
communication), and prevalent shortcomings or controversies as a consequence of a
lack or even blunt absence of respect in the field of communication and media
(misreporting, stereotypes, cyberbullying, privacy violations, inflammatory rhetoric).
Key findings of the present thesis indicate that respect is not only a fundamental
reality and value in the field of communication and media ethics, but also an
indispensable driver and safeguard for media's proper social functions (e.g., the proper
and necessary dissemination of appropriate information in the various levels and
sectors of a given society, the oversight in a society (social and political control),
cultural communication and transmission of important event and values, the important
role of social integration in a society). It influences audience cognition, attitudes, and
behavior on the micro level, and impacts on the general level of social trust, the cultural climate, and the “health” or harmony in the public sphere on the meso and the
macro level. The present research also highlights the complexities and difficulties that
media face in upholding the value of respect amidst rapid and fundamental
technological change (e.g. A.I.), increasing commercial pressures, and other value
conflicts, e.g., those rooted in the intercultural nature due to the rapid process of
globalization in contemporary societies. Ultimately, embedding respect as a core
value is vital for communication and media professionalism, its credibility, potential
for conflict resolution, and in view of fostering a constructive media ecosystem
serving the common good of societies so that they can thrive in a human, harmonious,
and just.