A Congressman's Past

A Congressman’s Past
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October 5, 2012
Abstract
Reporting and publishing is such a vital field that reporter’s keenness and attention should be heavily invested. Factors to consider before writing ranges from the choice of what to write, the time to write it, who to write about and the consequences the article may have on the readers. Above all this, the ethics involved in writing must be the guiding point, unless one wants to find himself on the wrong side of the law. When choosing what to write about, the reporter will prefer to write articles the will catch the attention of the readers, but will it be ethical? Sex, for example, is one of the selling stories and when linked to a prominent person will doubtlessly make the story interesting to readers. This paper is about analyzing the appropriateness of writing a story that appeared in a newspaper concerning a sex scandal linked to congressman, three weeks before he sought re-election into the congress seat for the fourth time.
A Congressman’s Past
There are innumerable factors and credo values that must be adhered to when reporting news and publishing stories considering the ensuing ramifications and fairness to the parties involved. Ethics, especially in the field of news reporting is an abstruse subject as compared to other news reports. As far as ethics are concerned, there is no room for pat answers. The newsmakers must ask the right questions, consider the relevance of the story and justify the essence of publishing a story and the benefits the society could garner from the given story. A case in study is the story of The (Portland) Oregonian that decided to publish a story implicating a congressman David Wu in a sex scandal three weeks before election (Seelye, 2011). The democratic congressman sought to be reelected for the fourth time, when the newspaper published a story of the politician’s ex-girlfriend for assaulting her sexually 28 years ago. Determining what to publish is a very subjective venture, the publisher must be attuned to the public needs and the impact that the publication is likely to elicit, newsworthy stories must be true, fair, unique and relevant.[Thesis]
As a publisher in a similar predicament, I would have to conduct a rigorous survey and consider key facts before publishing or discarding the story. The initial impact of publishing such a story could incriminate the newspaper in diverse ways. Since, David is a public figure implicating him on such an historical unsubstantiated incident could stir dissent on his supporters and sympathizers. Ultimately, the business would lose customers in terms of subscribers and also readers (Seelye, 2011). On the other note, considering the controversial nature of the news, profit margins could soar, as the readers would be curious on what happens next. On the other note, a competitor newspaper could pick the story and dent its reliability and this may garner losses for the newspaper in the end. Some of the questions the customers would ask include - why the story was published three weeks before elections, was it a gimmick by the political opponents to bring down David Wu, what was wrong with David indulging in a sexual activity if the other party consented? If David Wu had committed a felony, why was he exonerated, indeed why did the girlfriend not report him to the police? Once the public realizes that the story was published as a publicity stunt against David Wu, the end results could be unwarranted losses.
Timeliness is a key component when considering the newsworthiness of a story, for instance, the story under review happened 28 years. This essentially discredits the viability of the story. Nonetheless, any news concerning David Wu, being a public figure whether in the past or present could still be considered vital for the public he represents in the congress. The fact that the elections were due in three weeks could be interpreted to mean that the publishers intentionally published the story to malign the congressman and have a negative sway on the voters. The Proximity of this tale gives it an edge, three weeks before election when all the politicians are selling their visions and wooing the voters, this could be the best time for the opponents to destroy David (International Business Times, 2011). Considering that Mr. Wu is a public figure the sales of the newspaper would by design soar leading to increased profitability. However, this could be used against the Newspaper; the media must exercise fairness and avoid being used as a political continuum for nitpicking politicians. Incase the story is published; the public might misinterpret the intentions of the publisher and lose confidence in the credibi...