C
ongress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances. - The First Amendment
What do you do if you find a story or photo has an ethical problem? Do you follow
the firts amendment and print it? There are various ways to tackle this problem.
In running through the models for solving ethical problems (Contemporary Editing
292-295), a few models really stand out. The first would be “Does timing matter?”
Timing is everything, if there is a story that usually would not be a problem, but recent
events deam it a problem, timing is a huge factor. “Not every story has to run right now.
Many vexing ethnical problems are solved simply by holding a story for a few hours and
making one more phone call.” Another criucial question to ask is, “What is the good and
what is the harm? Ask what purpose a sensitive story or picture will serve, and measure
that against the damage it might do.” If it causes more harm than good, you may not
want to run it.
So we have outlined the good, now, “What is the harm?” Obviously it offends Muslims, and for what. We must “[a]sk what purpose a sensitive story or picture will serve,
and measure that against the damage it might do.” Furthermore, we must ask what this
does to further promote the stereotype, what if some Muslims react violently to this
story? Do they have a right to that reaction, and will the community understand?
As much as I hate to admit it, if I were the editor of that newspaper, I would have ran
the cartoon. Not because I agree with it, but because I am an American and believe in
the Bill of Rights. On the other hand, I am not sure if I would have the same feelings if
it were a picture of Jesus with a bomb. In that case I might not run it. Moral dilemmas
are bound to take place in journalism.
As an editor you must treat every issue the same. The fact that you are an editor does
not make it “your” paper, or “your” outlet to the world. If you run a cartoon of Mohammed with a bomb, and the next week someone submits a picture of someone you love
doing unmentionable acts, you better run it, if you don’t, your paper will never be respected or viewed as one of the elite.
V M
incent
ilholland
Contemporary Editing, Second Edition.
Friend, Challenger, and McAdams, 2005