Pass the spaghetti—and let the debate begin

By Rhiannon Walker

The problem with ethics is that there is no black and white answer. The good thing about journalism ethics is that, well, there are no black and white answers.

While it is wildly frustrating to not have a set way to handle every situation that is thrown my way, I’m also happy that I don’t have to be robotic and only have one way of handling an issue.

Greg Bowers asked us if we would accept a glass of lemonade from his mother if we were sitting down to interview her. Most of my classmates said they had no issue with this.

He then asked us if we would accept a sandwich from her. Fewer people raised their hands for that.

Would we accept a plate of spaghetti? Even fewer hands went up.

The problem is that while none of us wanted to be rude to his mother or disregard her hospitality, we also didn’t want to compromise our ethics. After all, it’s not the intention of the person taking the food, but the perception of people watching the interaction.

Accepting the food won’t change how I cover Bowers’ mother. But whether I’m a fair reporter or not isn’t decided by me. It’s decided by those reading my work, and maybe watching me accept that plate of food.

I don’t care about whether people like what I have to say, but I do care about whether my work and my actions are regarded as ethical.  

So what’s the answer here? It’s difficult to say with certainty. But I do know that I learn something new whenever I find myself in a debate about ethics.