By Jennifer Nazha
A hypothetical: Miriam Jones is running for president. During a campaign stop in Alaska she is shot and fatally wounded. The name of the shooter is quickly identified as John Doe of Chicago. You quickly find out this John Doe lives in the 2300 block of West Addison in a three floor walkup. You arrive at his apartment, make your way up the stairs, knock on his door and suddenly the door, which is unlocked, opens three inches. What do you do and why?
If I have learned anything from being a part of DePaul’s Center for Journalism, Integrity and Excellence, it is that journalists are faced with ethical decisions to make every day. We can sit and talk about hypothetical situations until we are blue in the face, but will we ever truly be prepared for them when they come our way? CBS News’ national correspondent for “48 Hours,” Erin Moriarty, says it’s a continuous struggle.
“You don’t feel wiser,” said Moriarty. “Even as long as I’ve been doing this, you don’t.”
When faced with ethical quandaries, making the right decision does not get any easier. Moriarty has covered a variety of stories ranging from the death of Princess Diana, the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Columbine high school shooting, and has had to make those decisions at every turn.
Moriarty graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in behavioral sciences and received a law degree from the university in 1977. Although she has a background in law, Moriarty still seeks out the insight of lawyers when approaching a story, which is something she says journalists do not do enough.
“I tend to go to the lawyers before anybody else, but not necessarily because of their legal information,” she said. The wisdom, training and obligation of lawyers to look at all sides of an issue are why Moriarty seeks out their advice beyond legal answers.
Moriarty recalls a report she did on stalking, in which she did a facetime interview with a schizophrenic stalker named, Justin Massler. During the interview, he threatened a number of people. He continued to reach out to Moriarty after the interview. She became concerned for his safety and the safety of others around him. This led her to a plethora of ethical decisions to make.
“You’re constantly making decisions,” said Moriarty. “It’s really more of an ethical, moral decision that you have to make.”
Moriarty’s moral obligation led her to call the cops on Massler, and he was arrested. This decision took Moriarty far beyond her job as a reporter.
Journalists are entrusted with a great responsibility to tell the stories of others. For this reason Moriarty does not take her job lightly, especially when it comes to making moral and ethical decisions.
“When you are dealing with these very important issues, and people’s image and their lives on camera, you’re convincing people to open up their hearts and their lives to you,” said Moriarty. “You’ve got to take that very seriously.”
No matter the story, big or small, Moriarty believes it is important for journalists to put the same amount of care and effort into each story.
“Every story you do is very serious and very important, even the lighter ones,” she said.
Whether it is deciding if you should enter John Doe’s apartment or deciding if you should accept a cup of coffee bought by an interviewee, Moriarty makes it clear that journalists must constantly think about how their decisions will affect their integrity and that of the people whose story they are telling.