1.I believe that Steven Smith said, "If he's [Mayor Jim West] engaged in this activity … we need to know that. If he's not -- there's no story,” because he was interested in a credible story that involved political scandal. He most likely believes that the only way this issue could be turned into a legitimate news story was if, Mayor Jim West had sexually molested children or offered internships to men he had met online. Scandal sells newspapers, and if there is a scandal with the Mayor, people are going to be very interested in reading about it. I think Steven Smith believed if they had enough facts to run a newsworthy story then it would be legitimate but if they only had a small lead on the story then it wouldn’t be. They needed a story that would impact the public such as the Mayor offering internships to men online, not just a story about the Mayor’s undisclosed sexuality. However, I believe that the way the Spokesman Review went about “outing” the Mayor was slightly unethical. They disclosed many allegations that were not fully confirmed, and it was the beginning of the Mayor’s “career death.”
2. Morlin justified the sting operation as being ethical because he explained that as long as no one employed at the Spokesman Review was using a false identity to get information, than it did not go against their code of ethics. This meant that the company was able to hire an investigator to deceive Jim West, so that they could get a story from the uncovered information. Morlin didn’t create a false identity for himself, but hired someone else to. He felt that it was ethical for someone else to deceive Jim West in order to get a story. However, I believe that it was unethical because they were deceiving the Mayor to try and get a news story, and probing him with a 17 year old boy to try and discover if he was a sexual predator.
3. Living in Spokane, I personally believe that they published so many articles about Jim West for two different reasons. First, I believe that since this new information was such a scandal, Spokesman Review believed it would bring in a lot of income and sell many papers. Second, I believe that the Spokesman Review is more of a conservative newspaper. Spokane in general is a very republican and conservative city, and I believe that the Spokesman Review mirrors these same political views. Therefore, the story could have possibly had some bias due to these views.
4.I believe that the people that benefited from Mayor Jim West’s outing were also the same group of people who were hurt by the Mayor’s outing. The gay community was very pleased to see a homosexual man in office and they wanted to expand Spokane’s small gay community by using him as an example as a successful homosexual leader. However, they were also very hurt by Mayor Jim West’s outing because they believed that he held back the gay community from having rights. Since Jim West was so concerned with concealing his true identity, he voted against gay rights several times in his career. The gay community felt that he was ashamed of who he was, and were disappointed that he was unwilling to be honest about who he really was.
I have very mixed feelings about the outcome of Jim West’s “career death” and how his sexual preference was disclosed to the public. As a communication student I believe that people have the right to know about Jim West’s alleged sexual molestations and how his career has been affected by his sexuality. People are entitled to know the truth, without any censorship. However, as a person I felt very sorry for Jim West. Over the course of a couple months, not only had he lost his job, but allegations were made about him, and his personal life was completely exposed. I can see where journalists struggle to balance the raw uncensored truth, while also considering people’s feelings when writing a story.
5. I believe in one sense that the Spokesman Review is trying to uncover the truth of strange occurrences that have been linked to Lynch. On the other hand, I believe that the Spokesman Review has sometimes been known to disclose allegations that have not yet been confirmed. I believe that sometimes Spokesman Review has created a bigger story than what is actually going on. In the Lynch story, allegations were made that he was spending time at a park known for drug dealing, sexual conduct and other lewd behaviors. However, because these facts have not been confirmed, it is possible that they are not true. I feel like until there is a story with legitimate and accurate facts, it should not be written.
2. Morlin justified the sting operation as being ethical because he explained that as long as no one employed at the Spokesman Review was using a false identity to get information, than it did not go against their code of ethics. This meant that the company was able to hire an investigator to deceive Jim West, so that they could get a story from the uncovered information. Morlin didn’t create a false identity for himself, but hired someone else to. He felt that it was ethical for someone else to deceive Jim West in order to get a story. However, I believe that it was unethical because they were deceiving the Mayor to try and get a news story, and probing him with a 17 year old boy to try and discover if he was a sexual predator.
3. Living in Spokane, I personally believe that they published so many articles about Jim West for two different reasons. First, I believe that since this new information was such a scandal, Spokesman Review believed it would bring in a lot of income and sell many papers. Second, I believe that the Spokesman Review is more of a conservative newspaper. Spokane in general is a very republican and conservative city, and I believe that the Spokesman Review mirrors these same political views. Therefore, the story could have possibly had some bias due to these views.
4.I believe that the people that benefited from Mayor Jim West’s outing were also the same group of people who were hurt by the Mayor’s outing. The gay community was very pleased to see a homosexual man in office and they wanted to expand Spokane’s small gay community by using him as an example as a successful homosexual leader. However, they were also very hurt by Mayor Jim West’s outing because they believed that he held back the gay community from having rights. Since Jim West was so concerned with concealing his true identity, he voted against gay rights several times in his career. The gay community felt that he was ashamed of who he was, and were disappointed that he was unwilling to be honest about who he really was.
I have very mixed feelings about the outcome of Jim West’s “career death” and how his sexual preference was disclosed to the public. As a communication student I believe that people have the right to know about Jim West’s alleged sexual molestations and how his career has been affected by his sexuality. People are entitled to know the truth, without any censorship. However, as a person I felt very sorry for Jim West. Over the course of a couple months, not only had he lost his job, but allegations were made about him, and his personal life was completely exposed. I can see where journalists struggle to balance the raw uncensored truth, while also considering people’s feelings when writing a story.
5. I believe in one sense that the Spokesman Review is trying to uncover the truth of strange occurrences that have been linked to Lynch. On the other hand, I believe that the Spokesman Review has sometimes been known to disclose allegations that have not yet been confirmed. I believe that sometimes Spokesman Review has created a bigger story than what is actually going on. In the Lynch story, allegations were made that he was spending time at a park known for drug dealing, sexual conduct and other lewd behaviors. However, because these facts have not been confirmed, it is possible that they are not true. I feel like until there is a story with legitimate and accurate facts, it should not be written.
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