Ethical Challenge 2

At the end of last year, Sony Pictures was the victim of a hacking severe enough to cause them to officially cancel “The Interview” for a short time. Reporters around the nation wrote stories about the event to varying degrees. Ethically speaking, it isn’t wrong to publish a story stating that it happened. People would want to know if a hyped-up movie is being cancelled, and furthermore, they want to know why It’s being cancelled. Writing that Sony was hacked answers that question, but furthermore, the event itself is newsworthy and memorable.


It would be wrong, however, to publish any of the information that the hackers made public. The information that the hackers obtained came into their hands illegally is surely one argument. Had Sony published that information, it would be okay to publish. But the reality is not the case. Additionally, journalists should always be aware of what they publish, how it affects others, and how others perceive it. Publishing such sensitive information could harm Sony employees.

Secondly, the information doesn’t serve a particular purpose other than a sense of fleeting curiosity. No one can argue that the Pentagon Papers had no social importance, but it’s fairly easy to argue that people don’t need to know some Sony executives’ passwords, phone numbers, and bank account details. Publishing such information doesn’t feed to the watch dog metaphor for journalists but more the nosy paparazzi looking for any story to publish as “clickbait.” “Clickbait” stories aren’t inherently unethical (at least, in the grand scheme of things), but the fact that they involve such personal, illegally obtained information makes it far more unethical.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *