School of Communication

Sandra Borden

Associate Professor
Co-Director, The WMU Center for the Study of Ethics in Society
Faculty Sponsor, WMU Ethics Bowl Team
Member of the advisory board for WMU's Research Ethics Resource Center

325 Sprau Tower
(269) 387-0362

Education: Ph.D., Indiana University
Areas of Expertise: Communication ethics, Media theory

Sandra L. Borden is an associate professor of communication at Western Michigan University, where she also co-directs the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society and sits on the advisory board of the Research Ethics Resource Center. She teaches ethics, freedom of expression and media criticism. Her research focuses on journalism ethics. Her most recent work focuses on the application of virtue theory and communitarian theory to the practice of journalism. Her research on journalism ethics has been published in several books and journals, including Oxford University Press's Conflict of Interest in the Professions, the Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Communication Monographs and the International Journal of Appied Philosophy. Her forthcoming book, Journalism-as-Practice: MacIntyre, Virtue Ethics and the Press, will be published as part of Ashgate's Series on Applied Ethics in 2007. Dr. Borden is active in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Dr. Borden has a Ph.D. in mass communications from Indiana University and an M.A. in journalism from The Ohio State University.

Awards received

Awarded fellowship for the 2006 Media Ethics Colloquium hosted by the University of St. Thomas, the seventh in a series of colloquia aimed at enhancing scholarship in applied media ethics.

Research grant

Western Michigan University's Faculty Research and Creative Activities Support Fund, $2,672, 1999. For research project entitled "Argument patterns in the ethical discourse of journalists."

Professional Experience

Five years as an award-winning education reporter and editorial page editor at a small community daily in Missouri and at The Jackson (TN) Sun, a 40,000-circulation daily newspaper owned by Gannett.

My life outside the university

My husband is the forensics and debate coach at Portage Central High School and teaches part time in the Communication School at WMU. We have a daughter, Katie, and a son, Zach.

My Teaching philosophy

In my teaching, I emphasize critical thinking about communication practices and encourage students to imagine better ways to fulfill their professional and personal responsibilities. My style is one of guided self-discovery: I am a coach as well as a teacher, helping students to ask good questions in order to come up with answers that are meaningful to them in their own lives. I foster and evaluate critical thinking through a discussion format, writing assignments, and active learning activities, such as role playing and group work.

Courses I Teach:

COM 305: Roles and Responsibilities of Media Workers

This course examines the social responsibilities of journalism; public relations; advertising; and mass entertainment production (TV programs, motion pictures, music recording, etc.). Emphasis is on the public's images and expectations of these media occupations; professional, artistic and other kinds of identities among media workers; the potential for role conflict in media occupations; and the tension between autonomy and accountability in media-related work. These issues are discussed in light of topical cases.

COM 307: Freedom of Expression

This course examines the meaning, scope and challenges of “free expression” in the American experience. Issues such as flag burning and obscenity will be analyzed in both legal and ethical terms.

COM 445: Media Criticism

Examines the various functions and writings of contemorary media critics and establishes criteria for evaluating media content and critical methods. Students will read, view and listen to a variety of media content, including television and radio programs, newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements, films, documentaries and Web pages.

COM 477:Communication Ethics

Ethical theories and justification models are studied and related to ethical decision making in a variety of communication contexts, including mass communication, organizational communication, and interpersonal communication. The course will examine the components of good ethical decision making in communication, as well as obstacles that can stand in the way of responsible choices

COM 604: Seminar in Communication Ethics

An indepth examination of a central issue in communication ethics as it manifests itself in different contexts, including mass communication, organizational communication and interpersonal communication. Issues may vary from term to term. Examples include deception, confidentiality, autonomy and privacy.

COM 680A: Seminar in Organizational Communication Ethics.

Theories and methods in moral philosophy are applied to ethical questions that arise in communication within organizations and between organizations and various external publics. This reading-intensive seminar covers major ethical theories, examines the nature of the interface between organizations and their members, and explores the implications of the organizational context for the degree and nature of individual and collective responsibility. Ideas for successfully integrating ethics into the fabric of organizational life are discussed.

My Research Interests

Business pressures in journalism, the role of peer discourse in defining ethical norms, professionalism.

Recent Research

Borden, S.L. (forthcoming) Journalism-as-practice: MacIntyre, virtue ethics and the press, Studies in Applied Ethics series, M. Davis (Ed.). Hampshire, United Kingdom: Ashgate.

Borden, S.L. (forthcoming). Mapping ethical arguments in journalism: An exploratory study. Mass Communication & Society.

Hearit, K.M., & Borden, S.L. (2005). Apologetic ethics. In K.M. Hearit, Crisis management by apology pp. 58-78). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Borden, S.L. (2005). Communitarian journalism and flag displays after September 11: An ethical critique. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 29 (1), 30-46.

Borden, S.L. (2003). Deviance mitigation in the ethical discourse of journalists. Southern Communication Journal, 68 (3), 231-249.

Borden, S.L. (2002). Janet Cooke in hindsight: Reclassifying a paradigmatic case in journalism ethics. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 26 (2), 155-170.

Borden, S.L., and Pritchard, M.S. (2001). Conflict of interest in journalism. In M. Davis & A. Stark (Eds.), Conflict of interest in the professions (pp. 73-91). Oxford University Press.

Borden, S.L. (2000). A model for evaluating journalist resistance to business constraints [Lead article]. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 15 (3), 149-166.

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