Deception

Deception, what a funny little topic? I think that the art of deception takes many forms. We saw it in Shattered Glass with Stephen deceiving editors and readers. You see it in undercover reporting with writers deceiving sources. Shattered Glass represented the worst kind of deception, lying to your readership. But like the text says many people think of deception as a continuum, with one end being Stephen Glass and the other complete truth. My feelings towards deception tend to stray towards the middle of the spectrum. I believe that deceiving readers is the cardinal sin of reporting. But I also believe that an occasional white lie to a source, to help a story along, may be forgivable.

I think many times sources can feel deceived by the media after something they did not want to make it to press, runs front page. If you are conducting and interview with a source and it's known that you are a reporter, anything that is said in that meeting is fair game. It is your job to report the facts, a simple "off the record" doesn't make a source invincible. Personally, I think the media gets a bad name for this kind of journalism, but you wouldn't expect any other professional to stop doing a part of their job because you asked.

Undercover reporting is that weird, gray area that is bad on paper but good in reality. I think of all of the wonderful work and groundbreaking discoveries that have come out of undercover reporting and to me the ends justify the means. That doesn't necessarily make it right, but as a reporter you weigh the consequences and the benefits and make a decision that will cause the least harm and the greatest benefit.