Ethical Issues in The Paper

By Alexandra Corsi

ac986013@ohio.edu

The Paper, 1994

The Paper tells the story of Henry Hackett, a reporter for The Sun tabloid in New York City. Henry faces several personal and professional ethical issues while he absorbs himself in one of the biggest stories of his career and attempts to balance his responsibilities as a father-to-be.

Personal ethics

Henry faces numerous ethical challenges in his personal life, mostly with his wife, Martha, who is almost full-term in her pregnancy. She pressures him to get a job at The Sentinel, another New York City paper that provides better pay, less hours, and an overall more secure job, especially for a man who is about to become a father. However, Henry faces the ethical question, Do I do what is best for my family, or do I do what I want?

Professional ethics

In addition to ethical issues in his personal life, Henry faces several ethical dilemmas in his career. One ethical issue stems from the vicious competition that all journalists face. Henry steals the notes about a story from the editor of The Sentinel. Stealing is generally accepted as wrong, and there is no difference with the story notes. Stealing the notes also has ethical implications specific to Henry; he loses the job offer from The Sentinel that he was pressured (especially by his wife) to take.

The importance of speed versus accuracy is another dilemma that comes up in Henry’s ethical journalistic decisions. The lines are often blurred in terms of speed versus accuracy because journalists are motivated to increase their news outlet’s profits by being the first to report on an issue, but they run into problems when the information they worked so hard to get out to the public before anyone else is inaccurate. (The Society of Professional Journalists's Code of Ethics points out that neither "speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.) When Henry and his coworkers learn about the truth of an ongoing investigative story, they must make the last-minute decision to run the accurate information, which includes some issues with the printing press (which you must watch the movie to find out!).

As journalists, we face numerous ethical dilemmas, both in our personal lives and in our careers. We must consider the stakeholders of each of these potential ethical decisions, and while it is important to do what is best for ourselves, we also should do what is best for our stakeholders. For example, one of the biggest stakeholders Henry must answer to is his wife, as she often feels abandoned during her pregnancy because Henry works such late, erratic hours. In the end, it all works out, but he does find himself in some sticky situations along the way.