Novak's Ethical Conundrum

[BOSSHOG]

The petition on www.bustbob.com which will be sent to novak's boss insisting he tell the truth about the plame outer or be fired is closing in on 10,000 signatories. Take a moment and push that number over the 5-figure mark.

Is it ethical for a journalist to conceal the identity of a criminal, especially when it is done for political gain? Is it fair to expect citizens to share their concerns about this issue with their congressional reps? Or is it just SOP that conservatives get away with whatever they choose to get away with? Sign the petition, write your congressman.

[Loonman]

1. kick

:kick:

[ewagner]

2. He's guilty on two counts

First, he allowed himself to be used to out Plame, then, a week later, he outed the company she worked for, hence putting more lives at risk.

[Muddleoftheroad]

3. Yes, actually it is ethical

Journalists conceal sources. That's how they find out things. So, even if they might not like who they are concealing, they do it. Otherwise, we all suffer.

[BOSSHOG]

6. We would have suffered

if we did not know that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative?

[HFishbine]

4. I decline

The last thing we need is less freedom of the press in this country. I despise Novakula, but this effort targets the wrong person.

[BOSSHOG]

5. I don't see this as a Freedom of the Press Issue

I have a degree in journalism. I worked in the field. I had sources. I had to make ethical decisions with what to do with the info I had. Novak is concealing the identity of a criminal. What if he outs 20 CIA operatives because karl rove wants him to? The Constitution will not suffer if bob novak does the right thing or is held accountable if he does not.

[HFishbine]

8. Hmmm

You make a good point, and I'm inclined to defer to your credentials, it still seems to me though as if we are skating on thin ice here.

Is the final determination a criminal act? What if someone were involved in, let's say, and illegal break in, and wanted to anonymously tell a reporter about it. Should that source be revealed or that journalist fired? I'm just not clear on where the line is drawn since I can see circumstances where criminal action by the source alone does not justify punishment of the journalist.

[BOSSHOG]

9. Thank God we are free to discuss the issue

I want Journalists to be free in our country to make ethical decisions. I agree with you that the real criminal is in the white house, not the dupe novak. However, he made the decision to publish the name of a cia operative (a federal crime). Some think I'm bending the law, however, he was given access to classified information by someone who had the clearance to have that information. george bush should turn that person over to justice now. I view novak with a jaundiced eye. He did not make an ethical decision weighing right and wrong. He did what was best for george bush regardless of the consequences. And now, he is hiding behind his alleged title of journalist. Professional journalists with morals do not do what novak did.

[HFishbine]

10. On the other hand

(Agree with your previous subject line, BTW)

What if the end result is that Novak's column results in the revelation and prosecution of someone from the administration for leaking the information? (Novak didn't leak the information, afterall, he reported the leak.) Won't Novak have served the public good if there is an eventual prosecution?

[BOSSHOG]

11. Outstanding point

I agree 100%, however, IT HASN'T HAPPENED and it won't happen unless my fellow americans sign petitions and write their congressmen. This administration will let it slide away. Ashcroft is totally unconcerned that a felon is running loose in the People's House. I could not possibly care less whether novak is held accountable for doing the wrong thing (most conservatives are not), however, a crime has been committed, we know it, republicans are covering it up, and novak was culpable in that federal crime (of identifying a cia agent). I believe the constitution is more at risk from continued secrecy than insisting bob novak do the right thing.

[NoKingGeorge]

13. TWO Traitors to America in the WH

There are two federal criminals working at the WH. There is one deepthroat who cared enough about old America to expose them. And there are five other 'journalists' who can do their Patriotic duty.

[Cheswick2.0]

7. he has no ethics...... so, no conundrum

he doesn't care. Everything he does is to further the aggenda of the right.

[rustydog]

12. Forget the petition to the publisher...

petition Ashcroft..Novak, in print, outed a CIA operative and knew he did it against CIA wishes.
That alone warrants an arrest and interrogation by the FBI. Why hasn't this traitor to America been arrested yet?
who cares if he talks or not? Let his silence scream from a jail cell and not in front of CNN viewers.