Ethical Dilemma Addressed by a Professional Journalist - Essay Example

? Ethical Dilemma Addressed by a Professional Journalist The paper aims to analyze an ethical dilemma that has been addressed by a professional journalist. A report to be analyzed should be selected from the Indiana University School of Journalism website. The following points are to be addressed: a. What is the ethical issue or dilemma? What choices did the journalist have when reporting on the issue, and why did he or she decide the way he or she did? b. Do you agree or disagree with the journalist’s decision? Why? c. What was the effect of the decision on the individuals involved and on the community in general? What would have been the effect of a different choice in addressing this ethical decision? d. Are there any relevant laws that influenced the journalist’s decision? If so, what does the law state, and how did it affect the decision? Are there any legal implications to the decision? Ethical Dilemma Addressed by a Professional Journalist Chosen Report The report chosen to be analyzed for this paper is entitled “The boy with a broker heart: special problems with juveniles are newsmakers” written by Richard Paxson (2011). Case facts revealed the story of a 14 year old boy, Jody Collins, who accidentally caused the death of a schoolmate when punched at the back. Apparently, the schoolmate, named Justin Charlie, was reported to have had a “plastic valve sewn into his heart a month before to fix a birth defect. When Jody hit Charlie, the blow ripped out stitches holding the valve in the aorta, according to the autopsy report. Charlie’s heart stopped beating” (Paxson, 2011, par. 3). Reporter Nick Lamberto investigated the facts behind the incident by pursuing Jody at his home and interviewing him without seeking prior consent from an adult. Subsequent news reports have identified Jody when he was charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault. Adding insult to injury, Jody, who was previously identified as a victim to a sexual abuse and testified in court during the uncle’s (perpetuator’s) trial, was concurrently reported and sensationalized. a. What is the ethical issue or dilemma? The ethical issue presented in the article encompassed violations of privacy, giving informed consent, competencies of children, environmental and social context, among others. Privacy issues have been clearly defined by the reporter’s lawyers, especially in cases involving juveniles who have allegedly committed some criminal offense but has not been charged as of the date of scheduled report. In addition, there were policies against naming sexual abuse victims to protect the identity and absolve them from social stigma. The ethical issue of getting consent from adults, not from the children, was likewise violated by the reported. The subject of seeking consent proves to be controversial in terms of who the journalists should seek consent from in addition to the children themselves, the subject of competence is more debatable due to the age by which competence in children is agreed on. In this case, despite the apparent intent of Jody to seek the presence and consent from his stepfather, the reported disregarded the ethical obligation to seek consent from the adult and proceeded on interviewing Jody alone. Competence was clearly depicted by Alderson (1995) as having 3 characteristics: understanding, wisdom, and freedom. At the age of 14, Jody is still considered a juvenile and as such, competence is still compromised. Ethical issues of the environment and society were eminent through the pressures and actions manifested by neighbors, to wit: “eggs already had been tossed at his home and at a van he was riding in” (Paxson, 2011, par. 17). Also comments from Jody’s neighbors have supposedly attested to the boy’s violent and aggressive behavior; seemingly rationalizing and justifying the reporter’s intention to publish his identity. What choices did the journalist have when reporting on the issue, and why did he or she decide the way he or she did? The journalist has an option not to publish the boy’s identity. However, he chose to decide the way he did because of “intense public interest in the case and because the experience was likely to be part of his defense” (Paxson, 2011, par. 28). The journalist could have written the report without divulging the identity of Jody and the facts could still be solicited using appropriate protocols. He could have sought the consent of an adult first prior to interviewing Jody. Further, he could have just confined the report to the incident without reverting or referring to the previous sexual abuse case that Jody has been a victim of. By publishing Jody’s identity, the report would surely entice more interest from the readers, especially from the local community who knows him and of the details of the incidents. b. Do you agree or disagree with the journalist’s decision? Why? I definitely do not agree with the journalist’s decision because it violates ethical standards and rules. The effect of his action would remain entrenched in the mind of Jody until adulthood. He would forever be typecast as a criminal and a victim of sexual abuse: both grave incidents that could create damaging effects on the boy’s personality and in his future. c. What was the effect of the decision on the individuals involved and on the community in general? The decision of the journalist to reveal and publish Jody’s identity created a devastating effect on Jody. The need for journalists to adhere to ethical standards are required in order to serve as safeguards for children in terms of exposing them to emotional stress and other danger with would affect their growth and development, as well as their lives in the future. It was revealed that several ethical problems could ensue from irresponsible publication of the results of research studies causing shame, stigma, and disadvantages for children (Alderson, 2000). By exposing the report on Jody’s sexual abuse, more grave consequences were created. Robinson & Kellett closely examined the subject of child abuse and the exercise of power by adults (n.d., 88). They averred that findings on children’s experiences of child abuse revealed the “unwillingness of adults to actually talk to children” (Robinson & Kellet, n.d., 89). This confirms the imbalance nature of power between adults and children contributing to the tendencies of adults to impose various perspectives on children, resulting to further abuse. The social and environmental context, specifically, must be evaluated in terms of fairness in location and power play. The power imposed by the reported on Jody by interviewing him without seeking prior consent from an adult violated ethical standards. According to Giddens (1995, 54), power is “the ability of individuals or groups to make their own concerns count, even when others resist. Power sometimes involves the direct use of force, but is almost always accompanied by the development of ideas (ideologies) which justify the actions of the powerful”. By supposedly justifying that the public is much interested to know the details of the incidents, the journalist has imposed power over Jody that would forever retain the experience in his mind. What would have been the effect of a different choice in addressing this ethical decision? The choice of withholding the boy’s identity could have saved him from all the humiliation, emotional stress and social stigma. Since the judge has ruled that Jody was guilty of reckless assault and “a doctor’s testimony that cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts might have contributed to dislodging Charlie’s heart valve, but he held Jody responsible for starting a chain of events that ended in death” (Paxson, 2011, par. 30), Jody’s rehabilitation could have created a positive learning experience that would assist in correcting aggressive behavior. d. Are there any relevant laws that influenced the journalist’s decision? According to the Access to Juvenile Courts, “even in those states that continue to limit access to juvenile proceedings, the media cannot be sanctioned for revealing a juvenile's identity if they lawfully obtained the information” (Access to Juvenile Courts: Consequences of Revealing Identity, 1999, par. 1). However, in this case, the journalist violated ethical rules and therefore did not lawfully obtain the information from Jody (violation of seeking consent, privacy, competencies of children, among others). The same website disclosed that “several states have criminal penalties for revealing confidential or sealed information about juveniles” (Access to Juvenile Courts: Consequences of Revealing Identity, 1999, par. 7). If so, what does the law state, and how did it affect the decision? Are there any legal implications to the decision? As the case facts revealed, the law found Jody guilty of reckless assault. The case was silent on any legal penalties imposed on the journalist. His reporting and disclosing the identity of Jody did not aggravate the results of the case but created damaging effects on the boy in terms of emotional and psychological dilemmas that could influence his personality and future behavior. By not imposing any penalties to the journalist for revealing the identity of Jody, the fact remains that more journalists continue to haplessly report, publish and solicit information through unethical means. References Access to Juvenile Courts. (1999). he 1990's: Juvenile Courts Proceedings and Records Continue to Be More Accessible to the Public . Retrieved September 10, 2011, from http://www.rcfp.org/juvcts/#fn27 Alderson, P. (1995). Listening to Children: Children, Ethics and Social Research, Barnardos, Essex, UK. Alderson, P. (2000). Young Children' Rights: Exploring Beliefs, Principles and Practice, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Giddens, A. (1995). Politics, sociology and social theory: encounters with classical and contemporary social thought. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. Paxson, R. (2011). The boy with a broken heart: Special problems when juveniles are newsmakers. Retrieved September 8, 2011, from Journalism Ethics Cases Online: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/the-boy-with-a-broken-heart/ Read More