Following the News of the World shutdown, the media has been buzzing with reports of the tabloid’s phone hacking exploits. Targets of the hacks included celebrities, members of the Royal Family, family members of dead soldiers, terror victims and Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old who was murdered in 2002.
While hacking into the phones of high-profile figures may be easily classified as an unjustifiable invasion of privacy, the ethics of covert reporting can raise questions.
A journalist’s job is to seek the truth and make it known. According the Society of Professional Journalists’Code of Ethics, journalists must, “Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public. Use of such methods should be explained as part of the story.” Like all questions in ethics, this exception leaves much room for debate.
A journalist’s primary obligation is to pursue the truth in significant, important and meaningful stories. Is it acceptable for laws to be bent when serving the “common good” — such as exposing business or government corruption? So we ask:
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