Our first essay concerns the ethics of interviewing. Anything questionable about his persistence?
This is the website for the senior-level Journalism Ethics course required of students in the Journalism Minor at the University of San Francisco. We are delighted that non-minors are among us this Fall.
3 comments:
As stated in class earlier last week, I believe that Morgan's techniques were quite unprofessional and showed a lack of proper ethics on his part. By using his power as "the host" of the show he over stepped his boundary by pressuring O'Donnell live on the air to respond. This lead to an awkward interview that ended poorly and lacked true depth.
I think what's also interesting about this particular interview is the way that it's been covered by other media sources. It was clear that as a class we approaching it tentatively, and I would say that the same should go for any news source trying to accurately report on the debate. It would seem that in this article done by the LA times ( http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2011/08/piers-morgan-christine-odonnell-walks-off-tea-party-troublemaker.html ) they are slightly siding with O'Donnell based solely on the way that Morgan's actions are described in the article. The word choice (specifically "cheeky grin") is overly editorialized in my opinion. This could be taken as an example of ethics in regards to your personal political affiliations, and how you express them in writing.
Do I consider "cheeky grin" editorializing? Yes, if it were on the front page of the NY Times in a straight news story about Obama or Perry. But in a feature story or an op-ed piece or a column by Maureen Dowd, I'd say that's okay. Some stories are expected to have attitude, to convey the writer's point of view either directly or indirectly. This writer seems to be a media columnists who does little original reporting and is expected to speak to his readers in his own voice. As for what to do with Ms. O'Donnell, she admitted she's on the show to peddle her book! She's been out in the media spotlight a long time. And she should know something about how Morgan interviews - Brits tend to be much more aggressive and less respectful as interviewers. Bottom line: You can show your smarts as someone being interviewed by handling the tough questioner. But all this is premised on the notion that O'Donnell is a pro. If the subject were a media innocent, I'd say Morgan was being a bully.
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