Question

A Marine captain is accusing a major news network’s journalist of lying in a story. The journalist, who was with the Marines on patrol, wrote that the helicopter he was in came under sniper fire.
The journalist admits to his producers that he embellished the story. The journalist was not under fire, but other choppers behind him were struck. The producers want to minimize the damage to the network and are unsure how to proceed.

What is the most ethical action for the network to take?

A. have the journalist give the accurate account of the incident and apologize for lying to viewers
B. have the journalist report on air that he was confused and “misreported” the incident
C. offer a settlement to the Marine captain for withdrawing his accusation
D. ask the journalist to discredit the Marine captain by discussing the captain’s poor leadership in a new story

Answer 1

Answer:

A). Have the journalist give the accurate account of the incident and apologize for lying to viewers.

Explanation:

Ethics is associated with the actions or behavior that are governed by the values of fairness, justice, equality, individual rights, dignity, and diversity. Thus, an ethical action would be considered as an action that expresses the worth of each individual and develop justice and morality.

In the given situation, the most ethical(just and moral) decision for the network would be to 'provide an opportunity to the journalist to present the accurate description of the incident and apologize to the viewers for lying' as it would not only fix the damage but also consider the individual rights and justice for the culprit. Thus, this action reflects that the network offers an opportunity to the journalist to rectify his mistake(since he admitted his mistake) which reflects integrity, respect, and individual rights(deserving at least one chance to correct the mistake). Therefore, option A is the correct answer.