Pultizer winner Carol Leonnig spoke on October 28, in the Foster auditorium of the 33rd installment conference. Carol Leonnig, Washington Post reporter talked about the ethical issue that occurred during her investigation on the Secret Service group during Barack Obama’s presidency.
The Secret Service had hidden and lied to the president and the public about what had happened on November 11, 2011. Oscar Ortega, a man from Idaho, pulled the trigger and fired it toward the White House. However, the Secret Service said it was from the construction by the White. House. Carol Leonnig then wanted to investigate more about the incident. Leonnig was able to gain the “whistle blower’s” trust and was able to get inside information.
The first ethical issue I would like to discuss is the sources that she interviewed. Since Leonnig had to be secretive during the whole investigation, she wouldn’t be able to credit her source, which is a big ethical issue in journalism. Attributing all the sources in article is mandatory, if not, readers would not know if it is all fabricated. “Whether the expectation of honesty is implicit in the press-source relationship or whether it is spelled out explicitly to the source at the outset, it’s imperative that the press expose deception whenever possible.” (Cranberg, G 1999) However, it is understandable that Leonnig had to keep it highly confidential.
During the speech, the most eye-opening thing that I have learned is to gain trust from you source. Leonnig was able to gain so much trust from the agent, so the agent would give out information. And it is important to cover such story, because it has to deal with the government, and also the safety of the president. If Leonnig were not able to build the trust and relation with the agent, this incident would not have been revealed. “There is no doubt that journalism faces challenging times. Since the turn of the millennium, mainstream audiences are on the decline, credibility and autonomy are eroding” (Peters, C)
In my opinion, I think it is unethical for some parts during the investigation. As a journalist, every source should be credited. I really admire that Carol Leonnig was willing to dig in her time into the entire investigation. She was able to let the public know the truth and what happened. Moreover, if it wasn’t the agent, the public might not be able to know the truth until now, and Secret Service would’ve hid more things. After this incident, hopefully the Secret Service would be more truthful to the public.
Reference
Cranberg, G. (1999). In reporting on whitewater, an anonymous source misinformed the press. Nieman Reports, 53(3), 9.
Peters, C., & Broersma, M. J. (2013).Rethinking journalism: Trust and participation in a transformed news landscape. New York, NY: Routledge