Absence of Malice

Absence of Malice tackles several journalistic legal and ethical issues through its main character, Megan, actions. One of the overlying issues in the film is libel. Megan wrote a story about an investigation into Michael Gallagher and this story caused Gallagher’s life to unravel. This story came from information inside a government file that she was leaked, but was it true? Did Megan commit libel because her piece damaged Michael’s life or is she protected because she was absent of malice?

One side of the argument says that Megan did not commit libel because she did not publish with fault. She had no intention of ruining Gallagher’s reputation and was reporting what she believed to the best of her knowledge to be the truth. The other side of the argument says that Megan did commit libel by being negligent in her reporting because she only had one source, she did not fact check, and she only reached out to Gallagher once.

Historic cases on libel have ruled decidedly on a case-by-case basis. In the Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc. (1973) case a lawyer Gertz was suing a magazine for publishing defamatory things about his character. Similarly to Michael Gallagher, this case was about a private citizen and his protection from libel. The rulings found that ordinary citizens should be allowed more protection from libelous statements than individuals in the public eye. Another historical case on libel was Hurst v. Capital Cities Media (2001). Hurst sued Capital Cities Media for reporting he was being questioned for a murder he was eventually cleared from. The court held that when the media truthfully reports information given by public officials that places a person in false light, even if the information proves to be false, the media is not at fault so long as the reporting was accurate.

From a young journalist point of view who has just finished learning about libel-and is terrified- I would have done things Megan. Of course I would have read the file, but I would have done my fact checking before I put it into print. I would have tried to contact more sources inside the justice department and I definitely would have tried harder to contact Gallagher. I would have made sure I covered this story from both sides and that each side had a voice.

Although this movie was released in 1981, Libel is still very much an issue that haunts journalist today. Journalist always have in the back of their mind- could I get sued for this? And that makes for better reporters. Reporters who fear libel will fact check their work, use multiple sources, and always present their story from straight down the middle. Libel is a scary issue, but a good issue for journalism.

Source List:

Absence of Malice

http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1973/1973

Libel Defenses Lecture Video

Libel Lecture Video

Film Challenge: All The President’s Men

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were amazing journalists, but throughout the process of getting the Watergate story they cut a lot of corners and their ethics were called into question. So were they ethical?

In order to get their story, and sometimes get their sources to talk they didn’t always reveal the whole truth of the story they were writing, for example telling sources they were writing a profile in order to get information. Is this completely truthful? No. But they still clearly identified themselves as reporters for the Washington Post and that they were working on a story. According to the SPJ Code of Ethics, “Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information unless traditional, open methods will not yield information vital to the public.” In this case, if Woodward and Bernstein had revealed that they were working on a story tracing illegal activity to president Nixon they would not have received the vital information to the public to make this story happen.

The use of an anonymous source has also called Woodward and Bernstein’s ethics into question, but take into consideration the case of Bradley Manning, who was sentenced 35 years for releasing military documents to the public. If Woodward and Bernstein had released the identity of Deep Throat would he also be labeled as an enemy of the state and sentenced to prison? Deep throat set the precedent for anonymous sources, and the use is still as controversial to journalism as ever before.

While Woodward and Bernstein often teetered the line of ethics, there were times they seemed to slip towards the wrong side. Most of the sources (those who actually talked to Woodward and Bernstein) seemed very nervous and fearful. It was obvious when Bernstein invited himself into that woman’s home she was scared and uncomfortable that he was there. It seemed that Woodward was breaking the SPJ Code of Ethics “Do No Harm” by harassing his sources for information, when they obviously did not want to give anything up.

While Woodward and Bernstein’s methods were controversial, so was their topic. And sometimes the best way to fight fire is with fire. So yes the line between ethical and none ethical was sometimes blurred, but all in all I believe I would have handled this story the same way Woodward and Bernstein did, although I would definitely use an audio recorder.

Not only was the use of anonymous sources and harassing sources a controversial topic then, it still is today. And today it seems now more than ever anonymous sources have been thrown into the spotlight. But the problem with anonymous sources is not that they are anonymous- but that how should we trust our journalist that this anonymous source is in fact a real live source? Too many journalist- think Jayson Blair- quote unnamed sources that turn out to be completely fabrication. The issue does not lie in anonymous sources, but the credibility of our journalist.

 

Source List

Top plagiarism scandals: Journalists who borrowed stories, made up sources. (2012, March 20). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.wjla.com/pictures/2012/03/top-plagiarism-scandals-journalists-who-borrowed-stories-made-up-sources/jayson-blair-18732-1351.html

Society of Professional JournalistsImproving and protecting journalism since 1909. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in WikiLeaks case. (2013, August 21). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html