PressEthic

Another conflict of interest arose when veteran Supreme court reporter Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times spoke at Harvard and explicitly expressed her views of the policies of the current Bush administration. The Times' 'Public Editor' addresses the ethical dilemma of free speech and journalistic integrity.

The Associated Press reported under "Industry News" on their website that on September 29th, news organizations filed a lawsuit challenging a Florida law that bans reporters from conducting exit polls less than 100 feet from the voting stations, on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional and violates their rights to free speech. The election supervisors argue that the reporters are a nuisance to voters. Are exit polls worth potentially deterring people from voting?

A man filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court in Denver, C.O. yesterday, accusing a member of the Secret Service of violating his 1st Amendment rights and for illegal search and seizure. The man, Steven Howard, was arrested by the Secret Service after he made a critical anti-war statement to Dick Cheney in a mall in Denver. The charges against him were later dropped. Two other lawsuits of 1st Amendment violations involving the Bush adminstration have been filed. Do I see a pattern emerging?

An article in Sunday's New York Times discusses the new Harvard magazine called '01238'--the zip code of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. According to the article, 02138 is a "luxury lifestyle book." What does that mean exactly, you might ask?

A column in the Washington Post today entitled "Captains of Industry, Masters of Cheating" discusses survey results published in the Academy of Management Learning & Education. The results indicate that graduate students in MBA programs cheat more than graduate students in all other disciplines. Is this because the cheaters are drawn to the business world, or that the business culture creates cheaters?

A New York Post article covering Condoleezza Rice's reaction to Clinton's appearance on Fox News shows no qualms in blatantly bashing Clinton in a "hard news" story that appeared in today's paper. The article describes Clinton as overly heated and argumentative, but makes little to no mention of the reason behind his "red-faced" outburst, despite the fact that Clinton makes it perfectly clear in the interview that he is upset about the conservative bias of Fox News and Chris Wallace. Is the right-leaning slant of this article ethical?

An article in the New York Times covered the controvery going on in New Jersey over an insert in New Jersey Monthly Magazine called "New Jersey Super Lawyers." In it is a list of "Super Lawyers," expensive advertising from firms where many "Super Lawyers" work, and biographical sketches of certain "Super Lawyers" who are willing to shell out the dough for an ad spread. Is this false advertising or just a way to help the public get information on the best legal services available?

Videos on YouTube.com and Photobucket.com, two popular video-sharing websites, show Chinese police beating protestors in a riot that began last week over the death of a popular local schoolteacher. Families and students objected to the police investigation into her alleged suicide. The Chinese government has attempted to suppress these politically sensitive videos, but Internet bloggers have released them for the world to see.

Various newspapers broke the story today of the identity of the creators of Lonelygirl15, a username for a made-up character named "Bree." On YouTube.com, "Bree" posted numerous video diaries that were viewed by thousands as word of the diary grew. However, "Bree" is really an actress, and her diary is pure fiction, the work of filmmakers. Is this kind of public deception ethical, or can be excused in the name of art?

Should students feel obligated to censor their Facebook profiles just because some employers might sneak into the system and use a student's profile against them in the hiring process? If the employee has to obtain an email address from that student's college by misrepresenting themselves or by getting access to the student's friend or college network through an alumni, isn't that tactic of obtaining information completely unethical?