Media Ethics
I chose to do my research paper on privacy rights vs. public 's right to know. I chose three cases that all are connected to this issue but in very different aspects.
Case Study I Ethical issue involved: The ethical issue involved is privacy rights vs. public 's right to know. The problem is this case is that a reporter is sent to do what she feels is invading someone 's privacy rights and her boss is trying to force her to doing this. Background of case: The case involves the reporter for the Detroit Free Press, Jennifer Holmes. It all started on May 17, 1987 when two Iraqi missiles tore into the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf. Her assignment was to sit with the family of 20-year-old Kelly Robert Quick, an electronics technician, who was one of the eight Michigan sailors unaccounted for during that explosion. Kelly 's father 's home was near Flint, which is 75 miles northwest of Detroit. This is where the most important facts start to come in that have an ethical bearing attached to them, along with the external and internal factors. It all started with a phone call Holmes made to Robert Quick (father) to ask if she could drive out to visit while he waited on the word of his son being alive or not. He said "No, please" to her (Holmes). He went on to say that he hadn 't slept and had spent all day yesterday giving interviews and that he didn 't have anything left to give (Holmes). He couldn 't control his crying and he said this apologetically. Jennifer Holmes assured him that she understood and then told him "God bless" (Holmes). Immediately when telling her assistant city editor Andrea Ford what had happened she got a "You fool or you idiot, of course he said that." Ford told Holmes that you never give them advance warning you just have to take them by surprise. This is when a very important ethical situation comes in and also where having the different profession would make a difference on which side of the issue that a person would stand
Case Study I Ethical issue involved: The ethical issue involved is privacy rights vs. public 's right to know. The problem is this case is that a reporter is sent to do what she feels is invading someone 's privacy rights and her boss is trying to force her to doing this. Background of case: The case involves the reporter for the Detroit Free Press, Jennifer Holmes. It all started on May 17, 1987 when two Iraqi missiles tore into the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf. Her assignment was to sit with the family of 20-year-old Kelly Robert Quick, an electronics technician, who was one of the eight Michigan sailors unaccounted for during that explosion. Kelly 's father 's home was near Flint, which is 75 miles northwest of Detroit. This is where the most important facts start to come in that have an ethical bearing attached to them, along with the external and internal factors. It all started with a phone call Holmes made to Robert Quick (father) to ask if she could drive out to visit while he waited on the word of his son being alive or not. He said "No, please" to her (Holmes). He went on to say that he hadn 't slept and had spent all day yesterday giving interviews and that he didn 't have anything left to give (Holmes). He couldn 't control his crying and he said this apologetically. Jennifer Holmes assured him that she understood and then told him "God bless" (Holmes). Immediately when telling her assistant city editor Andrea Ford what had happened she got a "You fool or you idiot, of course he said that." Ford told Holmes that you never give them advance warning you just have to take them by surprise. This is when a very important ethical situation comes in and also where having the different profession would make a difference on which side of the issue that a person would stand
Bibliography: Holmes, Jennifer. (1989, September). Intruding on Grief. FineLine: The Newsletter on Journalism Ethics, vol. 1, no. 6, p. 2,5. http://www.journalism.indiana.edu/gallery/Ethics/griefint.html Kredens, Julie. (1991, January). Of life and death. FineLine: The Newsletter on Journalism Ethics, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 3. http://www.journalism.indiana.edu/gallery/Ethics/oflife.html Smith, Timothy. (1989, October). For personal reason. FineLine: The Newsletter on Journalism Ethics, vol. 1, no. 7, p. 4. http://www.journalism.inidiana.edu/gallery/Ethics/persreas.html Neville, R.C. (1980). Various meaning of privacy: A philosophical analysis. Media Ethics(Fifth Edition) p. 134. Patterson, Philip & Wilkins, Lee. (2005). Media Ethics: Issues and Cases (Fifth Edition) pages 134, 135