Applied Ethics in Media and Public Relations

anything to get those viewer numbers up

Situation

At the 2014 Winter Olympics, NBC reporter Christin Cooper interviewed Bode Miller after he won a bronze medal. His brother had died the previous year, and Cooper’s questions focused on this, with an emphasis on the emotional impact this was having on Miller at that moment. Miller broke down crying, falling to his knees. Afterward, Twitter became filled with outcries of anger at Cooper for causing Miller’s breakdown. NBC was also widely criticized, as the interview had been taped earlier and could have been cut from their prime-time broadcast.

Care Ethics

I will again apply the model of care ethics to this question. As I have described it in my overview of the Sally Mason case, the care model seems to directly apply here, as this case involves the consequences of a personal interaction with someone suffering a pain they had no control over: Miller’s grief over the recent loss of his brother.

It’s worth noting that this model is becoming more relevant as its proponents grow in number and reputation. Care ethics are the driving philosophy behind relatively new media giants, like Jezebel, Mashable and Buzzfeed. These outlets not only report on what they perceive as immoral acts, they drive movements and persuade the opinions of a large number of people in this country.

So, even though care ethics has numerous criticisms against it, the care model of ethics is having a large influence on the general public. In this case, I accept the theories and philosophy behind care ethics to be assumed correct and valid. Flawed or not, I believe its prominence warrants thorough exploration.

Stakeholders

Bode Miller not only had to deal with being emotionally prodded, he had to endure this on international TV. He did, however, ask the Twitter-using public to “be gentle” with Cooper.

NBC televised the interview, so any ire generated by their reporter would ultimately make its way to them. This public outrage could result in lost revenue as advertisers would pull their ads if public sentiment toward the network grew too hostile. This could also damage the network’s reputation, with the public possibly seeing the network as opportunistic and willing to manipulate the emotions of the emotionally vulnerable in hopes to generate viewer interest.

Of course, if the network hurts, the employees of that network will feel that pain. Companies suffer pain through loss of money, and the employees are the first to feel this.

The general public could lose trust in NBC if they begin to perceive the news outlet as unreliable and unethical.

My decision

In addition to a public apology, I would pull Cooper from live shots for a period of time. She’d have to work as a reporter on the ground, rebuilding NBC’s trust in her, as well as the public's trust, by being a reliable and diligent journalist.

Either the network endorses such behavior from its reporters, or she was attempting to elicit a dramatic emotional response for her own gain. If the former isn’t true, then she has to demonstrate that the latter isn’t, either. If the former is true, then the network needs to make serious changes before it can be trusted.

I also would not have run the interview as it was. If Miller was unwilling to do another interview, or if the situation prevented this, running the original interview would still not be an option.