UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE
BLOEMFONTEIN & QWAQWA CAMPUS
COMM 2724
DEPARTMENT: COMMUNICATION SCIENCE
Final Analysis Assignment
ASSESSORS: Prof D Breshears and Ms Duduzile Dlamini
MARKS: 100
Overview
In this assignment you will use the IEA Model from Unit 5 to present an analysis of the
ethical situation that occurred in the case study you have chosen for Case Study Assignments
1, 2, and 3. You will present your analysis in the form of a podcast that you create (either on
your own or with ONE of your classmates).
You will present the podcast in a “Radio talk show” style, where you present the case study
and the behaviour under question and then share a back and forth discussion about the ethics
of the case study using the three lenses (meta-ethical, legal, and normative) of the case study
assignments.
Step 1 – Read up on your Case Study Assignment Feedback
This assignment is a blend of all three Case Study Assignments that you have completed
throughout the module, as each of the case study assignments focused on one variable of the
IEA module. Think carefully about what you did well and what you can improve on for each
of the assignments and then incorporate that feedback into the analysis you present in the
podcast.
Step 2 – Your Analysis
Once you have thought about your case study analyses (and discussed them with your module
partner, if you have one) you will create a podcast in which you analyse the case study using
the IEA model from Unit 5 in the form of a radio talk show discussion. Use the following
outline to guide you in the completion of this task:
I. Introduction (about 1 minute) –
In this section, you will provide a summary of the background of the ethical situation
in your case study. You must explain what happened and why it received criticism
IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Then explain that you will break your discussion down
into 3 sections (essentially giving a preview of the three lenses of the IEA model that
will be used).
II. The main discussion (5-6 minutes, about 2 minutes per element of the model)
In this section, you will discuss the case study in terms of each element of the model.
The 3 sections of your discussion are outlined below and need to be clearly separate
in your podcast discussion:
A. Meta-Ethical Variables-
In this section you will present your discussion from Case Study Assignment1 to
determine whether of the conduct in the case study was ethical. In this section you
will discuss TWO of the meta-ethical theories, apply them to the case study, and
make an evaluation as to whether the conduct was ethical according to each of the two
theories. If you are working with a partner and you disagree on the outcomes (ethical
or unethical), you can incorporate that into your discussion…it might even make the
podcast more interesting.
B. Normative Variables-
In this section you will analyse the conduct of the media professional(s) in your case
study and evaluate it in terms of the normative ethics of the appropriate field (e.g.,
Press Code for print media; BCCSA Code of Conduct for broadcast media;
Advertising Code for advertisements). Here you will discuss the specific duties and
expectations of the media professional(s) as they are articulated in the relevant codes
under which the professional(s) operate(s). In this section, you must refer to 2 policies
and/or codes that were violated and/or upheld by the professionals in the case study
to argue whether you believe the conduct of the case study to be ethical.
You can find The Press Code of Ethics and Conduct for South African Print and
Online Media here: https://presscouncil.org.za/ContentPage?code=PRESSCODE
You can find the code of conduct for Broadcasts (television) here:
https://bccsa.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BCCSA_Broadcasting_Code_NEW.p
df
You can find the code of conduct for Advertising here:
https://www.arb.org.za/assets/section-ii-general-principles-v2021.1.pdf
C. Legal Stipulations -
In this section you will discuss whether or not specific legislation was violated by the
media professionals in the case study. Discuss legal charges (if any) that were brought
against the professionals and whether or not you believe those charges to be justified.
Also important for discussion is whether or not the media professionals violated any
rights as stipulated in the Bill of Rights in the SA Constitution. In your podcast,
identify at least 2 laws/rights that were violated and/or that protected the behaviour.
Claiming that the behaviour was protected by specific constitutional rights means that
the behaviour was ethical according to the law.
III. Conclusion (1 minute)
In this section you will conclude your discussion, making closing thoughts and
summarizing the main points of your analysis (i.e., whether or not the professional
conduct was ethical).
Format of the assignment:
You will receive specific instructions on how to submit your assignments soon, as well as
information about how you can go about creating a podcast. So for now, just start working on
the “script” of what you will say in the recording.
If you are presenting alone, then it won’t quite be a back and forth conversation, but you must
keep it lively and engaging as you discuss it on your own.
Your assignment will be submitted on Blackboard as a sound file (e.g., MP3) or as a link to
your podcast (more information on that to follow).
The entire podcast should be 7-10 minutes long
If you are working as a pair, you MUST contribute equally to the podcast and BOTH
students must equally appear on the recording, and must appear in all three sections of
the main discussion
Direct quotations from the slides, textbook, or articles will result in a significant reduction in
your mark.
Rubric –
The following rubric will be used to mark your assignment.
Unacceptable Below Average Above Excellent Marks
average average awarded
Podcast Aesthetics 0-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-20
Introduction and 0-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
Conclusion
Analysis of Meta- 0-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-20
Ethical variables
Analysis of 0-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-20
Normative variables
Analysis of legal 0-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-20
stipulations
Peer evaluation* 0-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
/100
* The peer evaluation will be conducted during the week AFTER you submit your analysis
assignment and will be marked separately. As such, your rubric for the marking of your
podcast will be out of a possible 90 marks and then you will earn the other 10 marks during
peer evaluation week.
