As a student in Prof. Robertson's American Journalism Ethics class at the University of San Francisco, I have been asked to create a blog-- which will most likely end up playing host to anything and everything related to the practice of journalism in today's society. From what I imagine, this blog will come to be a place where I can post things of journalistic/ethical interest: articles, reactions, photos, video clips, and so on...
Clearly I'm in the very early stages of getting into the blogging routine, but I figured now is as good a time as any. So I'm just going to jump right into it with something we discussed in class last week: the supremely awkward Piers Morgan and Christine O'Donnell interview.
In class we talked about whether or not Piers Morgan was justified in the way he approached the interview. Was his behavior unethical? Was his undeniable and overt persistence questionable?
At first, the only thing I could think about was how uncomfortable their tension made me feel...and I'm not even a participant in strange the nationwide broadcast. And even now, after watching the clip multiple times, I'm still on the fence about the whole thing.
I'm tempted to say that Piers Morgan was only doing his job... As a public figure who has already exposed herself and her views to millions of people, I feel as though Christine O'Donnell should have been prepared to speak openly about all of her opinion and politics. Because Morgan was questioning her about material that is currently public knowledge (in the form of a published book), I have a difficult time understanding why such a topic should be off limits for discussion.
And while I do sympathize with Piers Morgan, I also believe he could've handled the situation differently. His incessant pressuring of Christine O'Donnell showed both a lack of ethics and professionalism. I do believe he crossed a line in the interview that could've been avoided had he approached the question in a different manner.
Either way, there was undoubtedly something not right about this interview...
No comments:
Post a Comment