Political scandals, media bias and the moral ambiguity of fraud and corruption

Abstract

Although there is wide acknowledgement that the media play a significant role in the construction of scandals involving fraud and corruption, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the issue of morality. As scandals are prima facie dependent upon wrongdoing, an adequate understanding of their construction requires examining whether and how they are framed in moral terms. This paper explores the potential moral framing of wrongdoing in the context of an ongoing political scandal involving two mayors at a local government municipality, through both initial media allegations and subsequent trial proceedings. Drawing on key perspectives from ethics and moral philosophy, we examine how prominent media newspapers frame wrongdoing in terms of adverse outcomes (utilitarian), a violation of duties (deontological), and character (virtue ethics). Our investigation extends the literature by showing how the moral and ethical dimensions of fraud and corruption are either emphasised or silenced due to intentional and unintentional media bias, and highlight the frequent conflation between legal and ethical wrongdoing in media narratives. Our analysis also shows how media often frame fraud and corruption in terms of a breach of legality yet frequently fails to articulate why this behaviour is non-compliant with moral or ethical norms, despite evidence that these moral dimensions are present. Finally, we highlight a difference between ethics and governance, demonstrating how employee behaviour may contravene principles of good governance without necessarily breaching ethical standards or the law.