Ethics Case Analysis

This analysis was written as an assignment for a media ethics class. It serves the purpose of analyzing wether or not the action taken by certain parties is ethical through the application of an ethical theory.

Case Summary: This case deals with a news station, WDRB News, using drones to fly over Governor Matt Bevin’s private home a gather footage. This was supposedly due to controversy about why the governor bought the large estate in the first place as it posed many ethical questions. The governor then took to social media to condemn the news outlet for acquiring footage of his home that included his children. In the end, the news station had not gathered the footage that the governor claimed. However, both sides were able to craft great arguments.

Analysis:

Bok’s Model

This ethical model is based on two premises: the first being that we should have empathy for those that are involved in ethical dilemmas and the second being that maintaining social trust is crucial. As such, the model follows three steps that allow us to keep both points clearly in mind.

The first step is to ask yourself how you feel about the situation. Where do your morals and ethics lie in the case? Do you feel like the decision or action was right? My personal moral code says that filming someone’s private residence without their permission, especially when the safety of children is a potential issue, is wrong. I expect my private residence to be private and not subject to news station footage. In this case, I think it is unethical that footage was taken of the property and the children without prior consent.

The second step is to ask an expert for an advice or to find if there is another professionally acceptable way to get to the same goal that doesn’t involve ethical questionable actions? For this, a lawyer would be a great person to ask. There are laws and torts that help protect private individual’s privacy. This gets tricky however when you deal with those who are seen as public officials or figures. In this case, Governor Bevin is a public official, he was elected to his position. Because of this, he has lost certain privacy privileges. However, his personal and private residence is still seen as private, and is should not be subject to invasion unless government power or legal reasoning can be given. Thus, it is unethical to have obtained private footage of his home.

The third step is to, if you can, ask other that are involved. They can be either directly or indirectly involved but the important thing is to ask how others would respond to the act. In this specific case, I think that the reasonable person would expect privacy for themselves and their family in their own home, regardless of the circumstance. One can also assume that, due to the governor’s children potentially being at risk, the reasonable person would expect that the safety of the children be observed. In summary, if the general public were to be asked whether the filming of a private residence using drones is acceptable without prior consent, the majority would argue that it is not.

Conclusion/Decision: In conclusion, the gathering of footage and stills of Governor Bevin’s private residence is unethical. As each step of Bok’s model proves, no prior consent was given and the reasons for intrusion were not sufficiently strong to warrant the footage.