Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Silly Sally

I think Meg Carter broke just about every rule in the book. I was conflicted throughout the movie as to just whose side I was on. In the end, I think I am most bothered by Meg's actions. First of all, her first article about Mike Gallagher was unfair. I would never publish a story so one sided. Some of the blame should be placed on her editor but any journalist knows better. I think they were in a hurry to break the news but accuracy is much more important than getting it first. I think it was Mike who pointed this out to her – he asked if she was interested in publishing the truth. If so, she should have spoken to him, too. Meg's article reminded me of the Greg Lamb piece we analyzed the first day of class. As we all agreed, such a story should never go to print.

There was something I did admire about Meg – her drive and commitment to news. Even after she reports Teresa's abortion and the editor tells Meg she committed suicide as a result, she asks him, "Do you want me to do the story?" What dedication.

Something else that really aggravated me was Meg and Mike's relationship. Meg was quite forward, which I thought was fine, as long as she was doing so to get the story, but then she shows up at his work, his boat, drives by his house ... Every time she showed up I wanted to scream. Not only is he a source and the subject of her articles but he attacks her. Really? She is going to keep going to this guy? Sure, Paul Newman is beautiful but there should be some boundaries as a reporter and as a woman. But I'll save that for my paper.

1 comment:

  1. I agree that Meg's drive to find news is a respectable quality. I think it is easy to overlook this because of the other ethical issues, but this is an essential characteristic of a journalist. Usually stories don't just find you, you have to find them.

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