(opinion article)

What moral features should media professionals take into account when addressing foreign audiences?

In my opinion, these multimedia features have a certain relativity according to the country and culture to which this information is directed.

Often, journalists do not know certain rules and regulations when writing materials addressed to foreign readers. This applies to the wide variety of journalistic products, from articles to videos on TikTok.

The work of the media in times of globalization should increasingly and more carefully pay attention to the peculiarities of information presentation and its perception of different cultures. It is worth taking into account the speed of perception, its initial assessment, and the form of presentation.

Even a basic knowledge of the difference between these aspects can be enough to significantly improve your work and improve communication with the reader.

For example, did you know that Eastern cultures have a preparatory preamble that helps to precede the reception of the next message? Besides, their multimedia messages could be biased, at least slightly. As for American-European media communication, it is characterized by a direct way of covering events, without layering and preparatory elements of the text. Their journalists are supposed to be unbiased, otherwise, they could just be fired.

Another feature of intercultural communication in journalistic work is the system and speed of information dissemination. In some cultures it is slow and limited, in others, it is fast and extensive. Such differences can become certain obstacles in intercultural contact.

At least once, I think, you have definitely come across such a concept as the golden rule of morality. It states that we should treat others as we would like to be treated. However, in the aspect of intercultural communications, there are some obstacles and peculiarities. What seems moral and true to us may not always meet the same criteria in another culture.

That is why, in my opinion, the question of morality in intercultural communications should in a certain way correspond to the platinum rule. It shows that you should treat others as they would treat themselves. Features of this rule are the ability to empathize, which is expressed in imaginative, intellectual, and emotional penetration into the inner world of the interlocutor, his feelings and thoughts, in order to understand his behavior, reasons for actions, and way of thinking.

In this way, a person, in our case a journalist, overcomes the perception of the world as one-sided and one that would conform to the same laws and principles. There is an understanding of the relativity of worldviews and, as a result, the consideration of such relativity in the writing of materials and the coverage of various types of information.

This is an important step in understanding intercultural communication, as well as recognition and respect for different cultures. And hence the improvement and better understanding of journalistic standards.