Is it Ethical to Leak Information From the Dressing Room - Essay Example

Is it Ethical for Sara Carbonero to leak information from the dressing room of Real Madrid? Introduction The case under discussion is about Iker Casillas, who is captain of one of the biggest Spanish soccer teams, “Real Madrid”. His girlfriend Sara Carbonero, who has been performing the duties of a sport’s journalist with a Spanish newspaper named “Marca”, which also collaborates with the Televisa present in Mexico. The two have been in a close relationship and therefore Iker usually briefed Sara on different happenings and strategies of the team. He also updated her on the current news about the team. Iker revealed much of the team’s information to Sara, which she reported to her channel that later on helped her to grab the attention of the viewers as well as the readers but it definitely had a negative impact on the career of Iker. According to the management team, what Iker did was unethical and therefore it made him sit on the bench for almost half of the season as the result of which the performance of “Real Madrid” suffered. This paper discusses the question of, is it really ethical for the media to reveal such conflict about a team which could easily be misused by the competitors? The paper also discusses the details of the case, analyzing the ethical side of it and putting light on that how the parties associated with the case have actually been affected by it (Segun, 2013). The Role of Media The Media in this situation played a very critical role. Sara Carbonero and Iker Casillas were accused several times for leaking the information of team’s locker room to the channel but the media made the situation worse by broadcasting it and making it available for the competitors of the “Spain’s Football Team” and “Real Madrid”. The media on several occasions exposed some controversial information such as the weakened relationships of players or the views of management on the poor performance of any specific team player. Every time the Channel Sara worked for broadcasted any such news it created an atmosphere of distrust in the team’s dressing room, affecting the relationships of the players to some extent. There have been many times when there has been a clash between the players because of the media issue. There have also been occasions when Iker thought about leaving the club that has been the most important part of his live. One of the sources also revealed that Iker was so close to leaving the club due to all the issues created by media but he changed his mind at the very last moment (Balague, 2013). Ethical Role of Media Audiences become informed or misinformed by many channels and journalist is one of them (Harcup, 2007). As it is clear to everyone that ethical practice is important for media as it holds the power of influencing a large number of people. Although the fundamental rights of a citizen in Spain also include the right to know information, when it comes to journalists, they must use their right of expression within certain limitations as it may be th. In Spain, the journalists are pledging to understand and maintain the ethics of the information that they are delivering to their audiences. The journalists in Spain are allowed to expose a certain piece of information while respecting the rights of the privacy of the individuals. Keeping in mind all the rights and limitations that journalists have in Spain, it makes the discussed issue much more complicated (Spain Code: Federation of the Spanish Press Code of Ethics for the Journalistic Profession, 2013). Situational Analysis The pro side related to the situation was that the audience was being updated about the information regarding their favorite team and they can connect more easily to the personal side of the players, whereas as the con side of information being broadcasted by the media was the destabilizing condition of the team and the conflict that disturbed the environment of the dressing room. The situation under discussion was quite complicated as the Captain of the National team of Spain was accused for leaking the information through his journalist partner Sara Carbonero. The unethical aspect of the information includes the leakage of information by a source which was very close to Iker and the leaked information also weakened the relationships between players. The external factor such as the involvement of media, audience and the management of the Spanish Football team made the situation worse (Sara Carbonero: ‘Real Madrid’s dressing room is not in a good state right now’, 2013). Parties Affected The role of media in the case being discussed was subjected to criticism by the public and along with Iker and Sara the other parties affected by it were “Real Madrid” and the “Spain Team”. Sara Carbonero was accused for not only broadcasting the team’s information on the international media but she was also accused for destabilizing the team and distracting Iker during the match. The Journalist on several occasions was seen filming behind Iker’s goal, which the audience as well as the team management considered as distraction for the player. It was in 2010 when Spain lost their first match to Switzerland and blamed this defeat to the Sara and her partner Iker (McShane, 2010). Iker himself faced several indictments as he was accused for revealing some of the team’s critical information to his partner, who later on broadcasted it on the local and international media. He also remained under a strict check of the management, who later on made him sit on the bench for almost half of the season. Iker’s performance was also being criticized by the public because of his journalist girlfriend as many of them thought that her presence in the match serves as a distraction for the goal keeper. In the year 2013, Iker got frustrated by all the issues being created by the media and he finally decided to leave “Real Madrid” but at the last moment something made him change his mind and he stayed. Although Iker was affected by all that was happening in his surrounding, he did not talked about it much. He did not post his reaction or views on any of the social networking sites nor did he address the issue in any of his media interviews. He just remained calmed and patient, which was supposed to be his own way of handling things. The media to some extent destabilized the national football team of Spain as well as “Real Madrid”. The controversies related to the captain and his poor performance affected the environment of the team’s dressing room as players started to be more careful about the information they share with other players or Iker (Ashdown, 2010) Analyzing Whether the Case Is Ethical or Not  On analyzing the situation one may think that Iker has all the rights to discuss with his partner Sara about all the happening of the Real Madrid dressing room because she is his partner and if he can’t talk to her then who is he supposed to talk to? Some aspects of the case can be considered ethical such as the rights of the audience to be informed about their favorite team. However, on the other hand Sara Carbonero does not have a hint about what actually the word “ethics” means. It is the fact that she is a journalist and she should perform her duties well but on the other side she is also the partner of the Captain of the National Football Team and “Real Madrid’. She should keep that in mind that whenever she broadcasts any information on media, all the fingers without any hesitation are going to point towards her partner. She has already damaged much of Iker’s reputation by speaking about him in public, which cannot be considered ethical by any means (Iker Casillas’s Girlfriend Sara Carbonero Claims Real Madrid Players Want Jose Mourinho Out, 2013). Sara being a journalist should learn that her personal life is different from her professional one. According to Journalist–source relations, mediated reflexivity and the politics of politics “Most who work in the journalist area has looked directly at issues of control and power when journalists and sources meet and, accordingly, how such shifting relations are reflected in news outputs.” She should not use Iker as a mean of getting controversial information about the team. Conclusion The case presented in this topic was a pure ethical dilemma where it was difficult to decide which of the two alternatives present must be considered to be correct. Whether the media should broadcast the information to the audience about their favorite football club or whether they should maintain the privacy of the players and of the relationship that the players shares with one another. In this case it will be considered unethical if Sara Carbonero leaks any kind of information that is given to her by his partner Iker. She should understand that being a journalist and the partner of the captain of the Spanish football team brings a lot of responsibilities, and therefore what Sara and the media did was completely unethical. As a journalist, she should perform her duty but she should keep in mind that her acts may be a source of bad name for her partner who is none other than the Captain of National Football team of Spain and Real Madrid. References Iker Casillas’s Girlfriend Sara Carbonero Claims Real Madrid Players Want Jose Mourinho Out. (2013). Retrieved March 2014, 2, from The News hound: http://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/01/30/iker-casillass-girlfriend-sara-carbonero-claims-real-madrid-players-want-jose-mourinho-out/ Sara Carbonero: ‘Real Madrid’s dressing room is not in a good state right now’. (2013). Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/iker-casillas-missus-sara-carbonero-real-madrids-dressing-room-is-not-in-a-good-state-right-now/ Spain Code: Federation of the Spanish Press Code of Ethics for the Journalistic Profession. (2013). Retrieved March 2, 2014, from Reynolds Journalism Institute: http://www.rjionline.org/MAS-Codes-Spain-Federation-Spanish-Press Ashdown, J. (2010). World Cup 2010: Spain points finger of blame at Sara Carbonero. Retrieved March 1, 2013, from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jun/17/spain-blame-sara-carbonero-switzerland Balague, G. (2013). Iker Casillas Is Living a Real Madrid Nightmare, but Would Leaving Be a Mistake? Retrieved Marcch 2013, 2, from Bleacher Report: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1779408-iker-casillas-is-living-a-real-madrid-nightmare-but-would-leaving-be-a-mistake McShane, L. (2010). Spains Iker Casillas, blamed in World Cup loss, gets harsh interview from girlfriend Sara Carbonero. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/spain-iker-casillas-blamed-world-cup-loss-harsh-interview-girlfriend-sara-carbonero-article-1.185556 Segun, P. (2013). Revealed: Casillas set to stay despite miserable year at Real Madrid. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from Daily Spot News: http://dailyspotsnews.blogspot.com/2013/09/revealed-casillas-set-to-stay-despite.html Read More