2. Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU

En estas páginas se presenta una reflexión sobre los retos y las oportunidades a los que se enfrentan los investigadores, los profesionales, la sociedad y los docentes en el campo de la ética de la comunicación y la deontología profesional: el periodismo, las relaciones públicas, la publicidad y la creación de contenidos de ficción y entretenimiento en medios audiovisuales. A partir del reconocimiento de los avances realizados en las últimas décadas, se identifican elementos clave que marcan el presente y el futuro de la investigación. La respuesta de la comunidad científica a la llamada a contribuciones bajo el lema “Ética, investigación y Comunicación: mirando hacia el futuro” permite identificar tres ejes fundamentales: instrumentos de autorregulación, nuevas tecnologías y valores, particularmente en el campo del periodismo. / A reflection on the challenges and opportunities faced by researchers, professionals, society, and teachers in the field of ethics of communication and professional ethics including journalism, public relations, and advertising. The creation of fiction and entertainment content in audiovisual media is presented. Describing advances made in the last two decades, key elements that mark the present and the future of research are identified. The response of the scientific community to the call for contributions under the motto “Ethics, research and communication: Looking to the future” for the present journal issue, identifies three fundamental axes: self-regulation instruments, new technologies, and values, particularly in the field of journalism.

Over the past decade, the problems arising from social communication have yet again become burning issues on social and political agendas. Information disorder, hate speeches, information manipulation, social networking sites, etc., have obliged the most important European institutions to reflect on how to meet the collective challenges that social communication currently poses in the new millennium. These European Institutions have made a clear commitment to self-regulation. The article reviews some recent European initiatives to deal with information disorder that has given a fundamental role to self-regulation. To then carry out a theoretical review of the normative notion of self-regulation that distinguishes it from the neo-liberal economicist conception. To this end, (1) a distinction is drawn between the (purportedly) self-regulating market and (2) a broader conception of self-regulation inherent not to media companies or corporations, but to the social subsystem of social communication, is proposed. This involves increasing the number of self-regulatory mechanisms that may contribute to improve social communication, and reinforcing the commitment of those who should exercise such self-regulation, including not only media companies but also the professionals working at them and the public at large.