Ethics and Corruption at News International Essay

Ethics and Corruption at News International - Essay Example In considering the scandal it’s clear that the practices demonstrated large-scale institutional corruption, yet the breach of ethics outside of regular social legitimacy may not be as dramatic as they seem on the surface. The most overarching concern in terms of corruption at News International is the organizational breaching of ethical conduct. In this context of understanding it’s clear that one of the major contributing factors was organizational leadership. Stakeholder theory is a major conceptual model that investigates notions of organizational leadership. Essentially, stakeholder theory is an approach to business ethics that attempts to investigate what really counts in organizations (Phillips, 2003). While there are varying models in this area of analysis, in terms of News International, one considers the failure of leadership to emphasize ethical responsibility and journalistic integrity. I believe that greatly contributing to the pivotal breakdown that lead to the organizational corruption is the very nature of the subject matter that was covered. Tied in with notions of journalism are notions of contributing to the public good. Indeed, journalism has popularly been referred to as the fourth estate, as it can function almost as another aspect of government (Smith 2011). Following organizational stakeholder theory, ethical responsibility of the fourth estate is such that the ‘why’ of the organization is directly in-line with publically accepted means of information gathering and dissemination. This can be contrasted with many of the News International publications, most notably News of the World, which eschewed traditional journalistic content for an investigation of gossip that can only marginally be argued to constitute news. I believe, following the stakeholder approach to organizational ethics, that in this shift away from operating as the fourth estate, News International also shifted away from any coupling with ethical approaches to information gathering. In these regards, it follows that intrinsic to the very nature of gossip based journalism are organizational propensities towards corruption. One considers then that in addition to banning these forms of information gathering the government should consider banning the forms of gossip reporting that News International produces. Although it is easy and appropriate to fault News International for gross ethical misconduct, I believe the more pressing considerations are those that consider organizational elements that allowed for such practices to occur. One of the most pervasive theoretical models that one considers in relation to the events at News International is institutional theory. Institutional theory is an approach to organizations that argues despite individual backgrounds, including education and ethical tendencies, the force of the institution is such that individuals will tend towards a uniform paradigm (Scott 2004). I believe that in gre at part the most staggering element of the News International scandal is that it wasn’t simply an isolated incident. In these regards, the phone hacking spanned a number of years and involved a wide array of individuals employed by the

Hurricane Katrina Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hurricane Katrina - Essay Example Brinkley consciously limited the book to the first unthinkable week. Beginning on Saturday, August 27, when it first became clear that Katrina was going to strike again in the Gulf Coast after roughing up Florida, he traces the warnings, stories, fecklessness, and missed opportunities through the hurricane's five hours f wrath and the breaching f the levees. His account continues until the following Saturday, September 3, when buses finally reached the convention center and the Superdome to evacuate those stranded. By combining his own experiences during the storm and its aftermath-Brinkley returned to the city to help in rescue efforts after evacuating his family to Houston-with hundreds f interviews with citizens, first responders, and government officials, Brinkley paints a picture alternately heartbreaking, heartwarming, and enraging. The Great Deluge opens with models f excellent planning and action by the likes f the Louisiana Society for the Prevention f Cruelty to Animals (which had its 263 sheltered pets safely moved to Houston by the evening f August 27), the Entergy Corporation (which shut down its nuclear plant once Katrina became a category 3 storm), and Louisiana parish presidents (who issued mandatory evacuation orders to their residents and efficiently obtained special help for those who needed it). Although stories such as these, along with the valiant efforts f many first responders, are welcome doses f things that went right, The Great Deluge is primarily a story f how so much went wrong. Brinkley's meticulous assembly f the facts into a detailed chronology and analysis is devastating at times to virtually everyone in an official role-from New Orleans's mayor, Ray Nagin, to Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, to the secretary f the Department f Homeland Security, Michael Chertff, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's "Brownie," to the man who gave him that nickname. And Brinkley pulls no punches: "Every time the Bush administration and the state f Louisiana hesitated, lawyered-up, and read the fine print f Homeland Security procedure, an American died prematurely," he writes. Brinkley's extensive footnotes deepen the sense f reading a cohesive and objective take on a complicated event. As the disaster continues to recede from the forefront f the minds f those who have that luxury and as inevitable election year finger-pointing provides ever more spin about what happened and why, The Great Deluge could hardly be a more timely, important, and effective antidote-to complacency, to poor leadership, and to the lack f accountability. To borrow a phrase: "Brinkley, you did a heckuva job." Brinkley criticized the Bush administration for its lack f reaction during the 72 hours immediately following the hurricane, when rescue is still possible. He also criticized elected officials for caring more about what their lawyers had to say about potential lawsuits than saving those in need. Instead, many victims were evacuated by private organizations or citizens like Jimmy. There was the Cajun Navy, a