Our Purpose

The University of Alabama’s Office Research in Media Integrity (ORMI) focuses on scholarly research, practical application, and outreach related to the ethical responsibilities of media practitioners, institutions, and media consumers. Its focus includes:

• Ethics-related research involving media messengers, messages, communication channels, and message recipients. Scholars will use a variety of methodological approaches to study the theoretical and applied ethics.
• The intersection of message purposes, including the interplay among journalism and the persuasive communication practices of public relations and advertising.
• Providing insight to the public about the practices of media operations, and aid in each audience member’s understanding of how they use (and, occasionally, are used by) media. Efforts may include serving as expert sources for news stories, blogs and other external communication, and public education projects related to media training and understanding of media ethics and practices.
• Furthering the understanding of the ethics of social media, particularly as it related to questions of privacy, misinformation and disinformation, and similar issues.
• Considering diversity-related issues with ethical implications. This includes issues of access to media, employment in media organizations, and depictions of diverse populations in media content.
• Questions of government censorship and oversight of media, the relationship between the First Amendment rights and ethical responsibility, and efforts by social media platforms and others to control user content.