The purpose of this volume is to broadly discuss the media's responsibility to provide
discursive contributions to the ethical and moral challenges of our times. At the crossroads of
intellectual progress and profit-orientation concentration tendencies in the academic
publishing industry pose a threat to the reputation and integrity of higher education. The
actions of whistleblowers like Edward Snowden have radically changed our perception of privacy
stirring debates about the ethical and moral dilemma attached to the disclosures. Islam and
religion continue to rank as urgent topics in the news - with the most influential
contributions to the public discourse often belonging to ideologically influenced Western
voices. One century after the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 Russia is still negotiating how to
categorize these events - which have recently been pointed out in a controversial TV show. The
example of Nigeria makes clear that insecurity and national development go hand in hand with
responsible press coverage while the low self-perception of the Belarusian film industry is
due partly to its depiction in the country's only cinematographic publication.
