Monthly Archives: June 2011
The Offensive Battle Over “Seven in Heaven Way”
We can argue about what kind of offense justifies taking a principled stand, but Seven in Heaven Street is so far from being genuinely and reasonable offensive that it doesn’t belong in the discussion. The New York City Atheists are grievance bullies, nothing more, and nothing less Continue reading
The FDA’s Disgust Offensive: Manipulative and Wrong
I’ve never smoked; my wife is a smoker and I am worried about her; I think the tobacco industry is more or less despicable. Nevertheless, I find the new disgust-initiative by the FDA on cigarette package labeling troubling. If it’s ethical, it only passes muster in a utilitarian balancing formula, and even then I think it opens the door to government abuse. Continue reading
NBC and the Death of Professional Broadcast News
The cumulative impression of blogger Norman Charles’ observations is that fair, competent and professional broadcast journalism is all but dead on NBC, where it once flourished in the days of Huntley and Brinkley and Tom Brokaw. At one time I thought that polls showing that viewers under 30 got most of their news from “The Daily Show” constituted proof that our youngest generation was shallow and naive. Now I think that it may just be practical. Continue reading
Ethics Dunce: Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann locked up his Ethics Dunce by re-introducing his “Worst Person in the World” segment, which he had solemnly, if unnecessarily, jettisoned on MSNBC to demonstrate his new commitment to civility in the wake of Rep. Giffords’ shooting in Tucson. Continue reading
Ethics Hero and Dunce: A Tale of Two Windfalls
Two men found themselves with a lot of money that wasn’t theirs. They had very different reactions. Continue reading
A Three-Year-Old’s Privacy, Sacrificed For A Story
It would be nice and admirable if journalists occasionally placed human welfare above getting a juicy story, especially when children are involved, but that isn’t the profession’s mission, and instances like this one, in which a helpless child is collateral damage, demonstrates the ethical carnage of tunnel vision. Continue reading
Story Update: the Fake Law Firm’s Purpose Revealed
Now we know what fake law firm Cromwell & Goodwin is up to, and it isn’t good. Continue reading
Ethics Quiz: Is Beautifulpeople.com An Unethical Website?
Your ethics quiz today involves the dating site beautifulpeople.com, which is in the news for culling 30,000 applicants from its rolls because they were just too darn ugly. Continue reading
