Live Q&As

This is in reference to the story I related last week about the sick man in the hospital who gave me the secret to his Little Black Book, which contained evidence of bribes/kickbacks/gratuities to city officials.

I challenged this poster to elaborate on why he felt my actions were "appalling," and here is the elaboration.   Let's talk about this.

The state was investigating very serious allegations about public corruption; the man in question owned a company that sold (or rented) things to the city at inflated prices -- had he given cash gifts to city officials, as was alleged, this amounted to kickbacks.

I was in his hospital room, having arrived there legally, with legitimate questions to ask.   I was not affected by a restraining order, which pertained only to state investigators. 

When I saw he looked pretty sick, do you feel I had to leave immediately?   Few journalists, or ethicists, would agree.   What you do is assess the situation.  If you feel you are endangering his life, you leave.    If you make an error, you live with the consequences, which would be dire.   

We are not playing games here; this was about a serious issue of public concern, and whatever my responsibilities were to this man, I also had conflicting responsibilities to my job, which was discovering the truth.

At no point during this interview did he seem to be in medical distress over and above his clearly weakened condition.   He engaged me enthusiastically.    As soon as I had what I needed, I left.

Was it wrong to play to his ego, knowing he was enfeebled and (in and out) a little confused?  Maybe.  You could go either way on that.   I think it was okay.

Was it okay to take his pulse?  No!  A really bad sin, I think.   It is the only point at which I was deliberately misleading him.   I said that last week.

As to smoking pot:  Look, you are a rule follower.  I am a rule skeptic.    We are not going to agree on this one. 

Thanks for writing back.

Noted.

Listen, you may as well lecture an astronaut about the huge carbon footprint a space launch creates.   This is what we DO.  

As a result of this story, people in Albany learned that their elected officials happily accepted cash gifts from a man they funnelled business to, at inflated prices.  You know?

I don't disagree with your analysis here, but I think it's more objective, and less subjective, than you think.   The reporter is the arbiter only in the sense that he or she can ask his or herself:  Am I hurting anybody here?  Am I doing anything dishonest? 

Stealing hurts, and is dishonest. Sleeping with another's spouse can be seen as hurting another person, jeopardizing a marriage, and whatnot.   It also, arguably, is dishonest because, you know, sleeping with someone is pleasurable -- it's being done FOR YOU. 

Taking a hit of a pipe that's offered to you just isn't dishonest.   It doesn't hurt anyone.     You're not doing it for self-pleasure, you're doing it to facilitate a story. 

If I were a political cartoonist, the cartoon I would draw this morning would be Boehner, and Obama and McConnell and Reid all looking proudly at their new baby -- the bill -- and it would be the ugliest baby you ever saw.  Only the public, looking in through a window, would be seeing the ugliness.