Ethical Journalism on Snowden Case

Case Study – Ethical Journalism
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May 3, 2021
Understanding the difference between what is ethical or not in reporting the news is essential for any journalist. It allows him to grasp the situation better and deliver it with consideration of its possible implications for the whole society. However, despite the importance of ethical journalism, journalism has a lot of gray areas that make it difficult to differentiate between what is ethical or not. For instance, when perfectly legal matters may be considered highly unethical considering their long-term implications towards a single subject or against society. In this article, the author would like to focus on the highly controversial case of Snowden’s leakage and Greenwald’s reporting. All in all, the author believes that although Greenwald’s reporting may still be considered ethical since it benefits the greatest number of people and strikes a balance between the ideals of democracy and the rights of the people.
Greenwald and Ethical Reporting
One of the main conflicts in the values of Greenwald’s reporting was the balance between national security and the rights of the people. On the other hand, most people believe that Greenwald’s act of reporting such matters of public security has brought about a threat to the United States national security. This is mainly because one of the primary purposes of the classified NSA program was the early determination and detection of the ‘terrorist’ attempts or attacks, which was then jeopardized with the public knowing about it. On the other hand, some believed that Greenwald’s actions had brought the public the benefit of knowing about the abuse that the government is perpetrating about their rights to privacy as citizens. This conflict brought about the ethical dilemma of whether or not Snowden’s confession and Greenwald’s journalistic decision were indeed ethical or not.
Ethical Analysis
In line with ethical conflict, in this case, the author believes that the reporting of the leaked documents was still ethical despite the controversy on its ‘legality.’ One of the main principles in ethics that journalists use is Mill’s idea of Utilitarianism. In this ethical principle, it is believed that one of the foremost considerations that a journalist must make is to provide the “greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number” of individuals. Accordingly, in this case, it could be seen that both Greenwald and Snowden are left with two choices, both of which can provide the most significant a...