What is the most ethical course of action the reporter could take?

investigate the claims without revealing that the pilot is her uncle; the fact that he is a relative will not affect her reporting

tell the editor-in-chief about her relationship to the pilot, and ask that the story be assigned to another reporter

convince the editor-in-chief not to run the story, because the reporter knows that her uncle is a skilled pilot and believes that the allegations are false

research and write the article, but have a colleague edit it before it is submitted to make sure there are no signs of bias

Question

Ronald

English

2 July, 15:35

What is the most ethical course of action the reporter could take?

investigate the claims without revealing that the pilot is her uncle; the fact that he is a relative will not affect her reporting

tell the editor-in-chief about her relationship to the pilot, and ask that the story be assigned to another reporter

convince the editor-in-chief not to run the story, because the reporter knows that her uncle is a skilled pilot and believes that the allegations are false

research and write the article, but have a colleague edit it before it is submitted to make sure there are no signs of bias

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Answers (2)

Know the Answer?

Joselyn Cabrera · Answer 1

The most ethical course of action would be to tell the editor in chief about the relationship so that a fellow reporter can investigate it.

Explanation:

The code of ethics of professional journalists encourages and values truthfulness, impartiality and fairness. Investigating a member of the society, who is a relative is bound to cause some bias or impartiality in the investigation. This would not be according to the ethics. Also, even if a proper investigation is conducted and the pilot is found to be not guilty, once the relationship between the reporter and the accused is known, people will have a hard time believing the story. So, it is best to let another reporter investigate this matter.

Justice Santana · Answer 2

The most ethical course of action the reporter could take Option B: tell the editor-in-chief about her relationship to the pilot, and ask that the story be assigned to another reporter.

Explanation:

Second option is most ethical because in all situations, boss (editor-in-chief in this case) should be aware of what is going on. In that case, boss will assign the story to someone else.

First Option is not ethical because he is not revealing that 'pilot' is her uncle. Option C is also not ethical because he should not convince the 'editor-in-chief' to run the story. Option D is also not ethical because he should not research and write the article.