Fictional dilemmas can be reality for journalists

Olivia Bower
ob023312@ohio.edu

The Paper, directed by Ron Howard in 1994, is full of ethical dilemmas as the characters face many conflicts of interest between work and their personal lives.

Poster of The Paper via geekyapar.com.

To start, Henry Hackett, the metro editor of a New York City newspaper, has a pregnant wife. As a journalist at a somewhat-subpar paper, he doesn’t make a lot of money, and he works long hours. He is worried about the hours and his pay himself, but his wife is even more worried, which adds to his stress. This stress makes him a bit reckless because he’s willing to do anything to make life easier for his family.

Matters only worsen when he is offered a higher-paying job at a competing paper. He’s left to stress about whether he should take the job during the workday, which held the risk of jeopardizing his work that day because he was so preoccupied.

The ethical issue that this situation most cultivated is that he decides to steal a lead off of the desk of the editor of the competing paper. Not only is stealing an idea unethical, but he also stole it just to get an exclusive story and possibly more money. He also acts unethically when he is researching the story and especially when he physically assaults his boss in an attempt to get the story run (even though he is right in trying to do so).

It’s understandable that some of the characters, like Henry, want to search for a more reliable job. Henry is staring a family, and jobs in the journalism industry aren’t always extremely reliable. This is an issue that we face in reality, but we should still be careful in how it impacts our day-to-day efforts as journalists.

Next, Henry’s boss Alicia has a similar conflict regarding money and her pay. With the threat of the paper going under regularly, Alicia has to decide if she’s going to pursue offers from other publications, which also may detract from her concentration on her work.

Alicia additionally dislikes Henry and is reluctant to listen to him when he tells her about the scoop. Her other ethical dilemmas include an affair and how she goes behind her editor’s back to pursue other job offers. Her affair is with a coworker at the paper, and her desire to pursue other jobs is partially because of the affair.

Problems and strained relationships between colleagues and editors can also be a real problem for journalists. We should strive to remember that our greatest obligation is to the truth and to the public, not our coworkers, but we shouldn't be unethical in fulfilling those obligations.

Henry’s coworker Bernie is also preoccupied with seeing his estranged daughter after he discovers he has cancer. Another coworker, McDougal, is in a feud with the city’s parking commissioner because he towed McDougal’s car. McDougal then writes columns degrading the commissioner.

All of these conflicts have the possibility to hinder the reporters’ duties in their writing. Each conflict is messy in its own way, and while the story is wrapped up nicely and none of the conflicts come to a head, they very well could have. Conflicts between personal life and work like these are something to avoid, especially in the newsroom where they have the potential to negatively affect your work as a journalist.