Jour 4470: Ethics - Post 2

With the excitement of the Winter Olympics slowly dying, a few memories will stick in the minds of viewers. The great Shaun White and his Double McTwist 1260 at the end of his run, the unfortunate crash of Lindsey Vonn, and the tragic death of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, are some of the premier events that took place. The horrific death of Kumaritashvili caused an uproar in the world.

During Kumaritashvili’s 27th run down the track on Whistler, he lost control of his sled at 90 mph and slammed his head on the back of a pole found in the curve of the track. Seconds later, emergency crews rush to his side and attempt to bring his limp body back to life. This memory will stick in the minds of the people attending him, but also in the minds of the entire world to see.

Vivid coverage of the crash and emergency crews afterwards can be found plastered everywhere on the Internet. Type a few keywords in a search engine, and you’ve got over 10 venues to watch the video on. Ethically, is this what is right and good? Or were the media wrong in putting the graphic videos on the Internet minutes after the fatal crash?

If I were a broadcaster covering the Winter Olympic Games, I would have waited for the family to be informed to tell of this horrific death. They are the ones directly affected. Kumaritashvili’s father was a luger, and is quoted expressing his son’s anxiety about the track.

“"I'm a luger as well and that's why I told him, 'Brake, brake, don't risk it,' " the elder Kumaritashvili said. "He said, 'No Dad, I will risk it, what will be will be.' And he took the risk." (Luger 2010).

Out of sensitivity to Kumaritashvili’s family, I would have exercised Virtue ethics. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Gower 2008). People of the public do not need to see the crash and the aftermath of it. Personally, I feel that it was not considerate of the luger or his family’s emotions.

To play the devil’s advocate, I could argue that the people should be informed so that they are aware of the on-goings at the Winter Games. People love to be entertained and informed, and horrific deaths and crashes entertain people. It gives them something to talk about.

Although media coverage is a business that must captivate and keep an audience, it should always act ethically before it considers what kind of profit a certain story will make. According to the Journalist Code of Ethics, “be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.” I feel that it breaks the code of ethics by leaking those videos and photographs to the public.

All in all, if Virtue ethics would have been applied, the journalists covering the Olympics should have considered the feelings of the family before the drive of a good story.

Sources:

Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

Gower, K.K, Classical Theories. (2008). Legal and ethical considerations for public relations. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.

Press, Associated. "Luger Was Afraid of a Turn, Father Says." Winter Olympics. ESPN, 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. .