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Evaluation of media credibility and trust among Mormons is examined in this study. The results suggest low assessments of the credibility of the mainstream news media across several dimensions. Participating Mormons viewed the news media as liberal and politically biased; they did not agree that the news media were credible, trustworthy, got their facts straight or were moral.

Mitt Romney's religion accounted for 50% of all religion-related presidential primary campaign stories in 2007, and 30% of Romney's total media coverage focused on his Mormon faith. This article reviews that coverage and considers it within the larger historical context of the complex relationship between media and Mormonism throughout the 180-year history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A factorial model (the first in the area of Mormon Media Studies) is proposed by which to document and analyze the wider societal influences that are reflected in media representation of Mormon identity. The model's 5 factors include the media, the Mormons, other religions, secular influences, and politics/government. The model assumes an interrelationship among the five factors. Factor influence and relationships among factors vary according to time, issue, and circumstance. The model relates to informational (not entertainment) media. Suggestions are made for application of the model to academic studies.

Drawing upon contemporary virtue ethics theory, The Model of The Principled Advocate and The Pathological Partisan is introduced. Profiles are developed of diametrically opposed archetypes of public relations and advertising practitioners. The Principled Advocate represents the advocacy virtues of humility, truth, transparency, respect, care, authenticity, equity, and social responsibility. The Pathological Partisan represents the opposing vices of arrogance, deceit, secrecy, manipulation, disregard, artifice, injustice, and raw self-interest. One becomes either a Principled Advocate or a Pathological Partisan by habitually enacting or embodying the virtues or vices in the context of professional practices.

A survey (n = 349) of highly religious, politically conservative students (religiosity and political conservatism being among the highest predictors of intolerance) shows a significant statistical effect on increased tolerance (both abstract and specific) for free speech resulting from reading John Stuart Mill's (1859/2002) essay “On Liberty” and taking a course in the history and theory of the First Amendment. Other variables also affect tolerance, including missionary service and print and Internet news use. TV news use does not.

A framework is introduced consisting of five baselines of ethical justification for professional persuasive communications. The models (self-interest, entitlement, enlightened self-interest, social responsibility, and kingdom of ends) provide a conceptual structure by which to identify and analyze the ethical reasoning, underlying justifications, motivations, and decision making in professional persuasive practices (advertising, public relations, marketing). Although the emphasis of this article is on defining the constructs, their ethical soundness as justification for persuasive practices and their usefulness in establishing direction and methodologies for research in persuasive also are addressed.

Kidder's checklistfor ethical decrsion making is recommended as an addition to the existing canon of modelsfor mass media ethics. Contributions in Kidder's approach include his dichotomy between ethical dilemmas m d moral temptations, his tests for right-versus-wrong and right-versus-right issues, his framework by which to clarify values in ethical dilemmas, nnd his sequencing of the decision-making process. Kidder's model is surnmnrized nnd discussed, revisions are suggested for classroom use in medin ethics courses, nnd tke revised model is applied to media ethics cases.