Law and Ethics

You are interviewing a high government
official about her involvement in a bribery
scheme, when she is called out of her office.
While alone, you notice some documents on
her desk that appear to be related to your
investigation.
Would you read them? Take them? Ask her
about them when she returns?

I don’t believe I would read them but possibly ask her about them saying I noticed them on her desk. I have too much of a conscience and would feel guilty if I mentioned reading them. Or if I was feeling really brave to get the story I would overlook the papers and then just keep it to myself.


Conditions at a local nursing home are
known to be substandard. It’s privately
owned, and efforts to gain admittance or
information have failed
Your editor asks you to get a job as an
orderly and write a story based on your
first-hand experiences.
Would you do it? Why or why not?

Just as in the Food Lion case the reporters made a false application with false references. It went against the first amendment but they found out how terrible the re-packaging was in that place. I think I would only do it if I had real experience in a nursing home so then there wouldn’t be much that was false about my application. If someone is being mistreated or the conditions are terrible in a place such as a nursing home, then people have the right to know. It would also hopefully make that place shape up and better the living conditions and staff etc.


You are writing a feature story and
find some excellent quotes about your
subject from another written source.
– May you use those quotes as if you
obtained them yourself, or must you
credit the other written source?
– What if you obtained the quotes from a
web site?

I believe I can use the quotes but I must credit the written source. Otherwise it is like plagiarism. If the quotes are from a website it is still the same story. Taking someone else’s work and trying to make it your own doesn’t seem legal, logical, or ethical.