Privacy in Ethics

This week in class we did much discussion on ethics and privacy. Our class was split up into several groups and assigned different case studies from Louis A. Day's book, Ethics in Media Communications. . We were to implement the SAD model in each case and explain to the the class our situation, our analysis and our decision.

My group in particular was assigned a case study about a high school senior named Laura Devlin who witnessed her brother's massacre of students and teachers at their high school. The brother was apprehended and their court-appointed attorney advised the sister and mother to speak to no one about the incident.

A newspaper journalist took interest in the story and through a personal relationship with an officer assigned to the case was able to access official evidence. Included in that evidence was the sister's personal diary filled with information about her own life, her family and offered very little to deal with her brother.

The journalist wanted to do a human interest piece based on information found in Devlin's personal diary. Her editor thought the story was on the line of unethical as it was an invasion of privacy. In my opinion, the editor was right. The journalist only acquired that information through a personal relationship and was never granted consent from Devlin's mother as she is a minor. It was also unethical because the information she wanted to include was not relevant to the incident of her brother. It just was exposing her personal business for the pleasure of the audience. In the public eye, it would have been interesting but the means by which she acquire the ends were unethical.

The Right To Vote

I am implementing the SAD model which we discussed in class for my blog.

Situation:
"Noncitizens aren't allowed to vote in federal and state election, but efforts to remove them from the nation's voter registration rolls have produced more angst than results," says Pam Fessler in a National Public Radio article online.

 Voter purge is the act of removing all non citizens and ineligible voters from the voter rolls. However, in the state of Florida, Governor Rick Scott's decision to do so has rendered some eligible voters ineligible to vote right before primary elections.

Analysis:
 In the year 2012, voter registration is a huge theme among college students, minorities and many other subgroups in America. Countless volunteers dedicate much of their time to ensuring that everyone they can reach is registered and eligible to vote.

 

With Governor Scott's decision to enact this voter purge, thousands of voters are in jeopardy of losing their eligibility. Especially with the time constraints due to primary elections being less than two months away, these voters could face difficulty getting their voting problem eradicated.

Decision:
Governor Scott concedes that what he is doing is right and that he will carry forward with it. So the question remains, do I agree with his decision? Is it ethical? And the answer would be no.

In the eye of public opinion, it would seem as if Governor Scott purposefully chose to do voter purge to render people ineligible to vote. "According to reports, 87 percent of persons on the list were minorities," says D.L. Chandler in an article on newsone.com. Immediately, the public will perceive this situation to be one of racial inequalities and ethical issues. As mentioned in a previous blog, politicians and ethics have a thin line on which to operate..

One of the terms in the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics reads as people should "avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status." With such a heavy minority target in this situation, it would defy that code of ethics and any other for the matter.

To read the NPR article "Voter Purges Under Review Ahead of Election Day", please visit http://www.npr.org/2012/09/20/161437481/voter-purges-under-review-ahead-of-election-day.

To read the Newsone.com article "Hooray! Florida Voter Purge Fight Ends In Settlement, Voter Rights Restored To Naturalized Citizen," please visit http://newsone.com/2037388/florida-voter-purge/.

Ethics in Politics

Political figures are leaders in our communities, states and country as a whole. They are held to standards higher than most when it concerns ethics. The people whom they represent place trust in their elected officials to exhibit high levels of moral reasoning in every decision they make. In an ethics case against Tallahassee's mayor, John Marks, the importance of ethical behavior in a public office was clearly visible. 

“The Ethics Commission voted June 15, 2012 to charge Marks with five ethics violations over his votes involving the Alliance for Digital Equality, an Atlanta nonprofit, and the corporate giant Honeywell. Marks voted Sept. 15, 2020 to approve a $1.2 million federal grant involving the city and grant partners ADE and Go Beyond Foundation while he was a paid member of ADE’s board of advisers, " says Jeff Burlew in a Tallahassee Democrat article.

Regardless of the specificity, ethics and politics together are red flags for the public. We immediately have a vested interest in what our leaders are doing when ethics come into play. Even if they are found innocent of the crimes, the association will typically never leave the person's resume.  

Moral reasoning is an important theme in Louis A. Day's book, Ethics in Media Communications. It is the foundation for making ethical decisions. When holding a public office, politicians have think about the decision at hand as well as the public's perception of that decision. What may be completely acceptable outside of politics skates upon a thin line between integrity and dishonesty. There is a greater scrutiny of public officials forcing them to be extremely cautious when dealing with possible ethical issues.

To read the Tallahassee Democrat article, "Settlement unlikely in Marks' case", please visit http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012309130043&nclick_check=1

A Plagiarist's Publication

We hear it all the time! Do not plagiarize. Plagiarism is not tolerated at our institution. You could face disciplinary consequences and fail a course if you choose to plagiarize work. No matter what the context is, students worldwide have associated plagiarism with a negative connotation and rightfully so. The act of taking someone else's work and claiming it as one's own is no simple matter. In fact, it proved to be quite the debacle when an Arizona State University student plagiarized work at the East Valley Tribune and The State Press.

When a journalist plagiarizes his or her work, it compromises their journalistic and personal integrity. What value and trust is there in a writer if they cannot be depended upon for original works? And in reference to the newspapers, what responsibilities do they hold to their readers to inform them of these occurrences? While it seems to fall solely on the plagiarist, the circulations are also ethically bound to correct the mishaps at hand.

The campus paper issued an apology for the plagiarized pieces and attributed them to the correct sources. The professional newspaper did little more than acknowledge plagiarism occurred, according to an article by Craig Silverman for www.poynter.org. "These contrasting reactions highlight the lack of standardization when it comes to how news organizations respond to an incident of plagiarism or fabrication, " he says.


It all ties back in to an organization's ethics. Their credibility is also diminished when things of an ethical nature occur. However, it is the moral responsibility of that publication to right their wrongs. In the words of the Greek philosopher Epictetus, "it's not what happens to you, but it's how you react to it." This rings very true in this situation. Just as important as the act of plagiarism is the acknowledgment and attempts to rectify the situation. Although the papers' were not initially aware of the intern's doings , their attempts to make things right brought about a change that kept the readers believing in the quality of news once more.


To read the article, please visit http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/regret-the-error/187646/asu-journalism-student-plagiarizes-at-the-state-press-east-valley-tribune/ .