McAvoy vs. Santorum

The interview begins with Rick Santorum’s aid on the evening news show with Will McAvoy. Sutton Wall is Rick Santorum’s aid and his campaign advisor, he’s on the show to talk about the mutual judgment him and Rick Santorum share in regards to taking a life away. Mr. McAvoy is not interested in the abortion matter, he’s far more interested in Rick Santorum’s beliefs on Gay marriage and race issues. It was clear from the beginning of the interview that Mr. McAvoy was intending to harm Mr. Wall and be the same bully Mr. Santorum is. He began attacking Mr. Wall and his personal beliefs disregarding the sanctity of life making Mr. Santorum the center of attention in a negative perspective. Was the way Will McAvoy spoke to Sutton Wall ethically suitable, it definitely was nothing but ethical. As a journalist Mr. McAvoy is obliged to be transparent and virtuous. According to the SPJ code of ethics, a journalist is believed to ensure the least amount of harm and Mr. McAvoy offended Mr. Wall and harmed his directly. “Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information” (SPJ code of ethics, 2014, Paragraph 26). Mr. McAvoy surpassed the rights Rick Santorum’s aid obtains and put the interest of his broadcasting show to maximize his ratings and for personal reasons to show that Mr. Santorum is not a good candidate for presidency.

Will McAvoy clearly stated in his apology speech is baffled by the overrated news and he will be showing the more objective side of the news, but where is the objectiveness in his speech with Mr. Wall? “I’ll make no effort to subdue my personal opinions. I will make every effort to expose you to informed opinions that are different from my own.” These are the exact words Mr. McAvoy stated in his apology speech, but this makes him a hypocrite just like many journalists and his news show is just the same. He offended Mr. Wall and was extremely clear about his point of view. He deceived Mr. Sutton Wall on being a guest on the show and insulted him in front of thousands of people. He might have stated the truth about Mr. Wall’s beliefs and how they contradict Mr. Santorum but he twisted them and highlighted negative words towards Mr. Wall that described him being inferior, disgusting and less than a man. As a respectable journalist, that is unacceptable and is causing harm to a person that disrupts the code of being a journalist. “A journalist should respect the honor, dignity, and inviolability of the personal life of the person he met with and has featured” (Code of Professional Ethics for Journalists, Principle 3.2). Mr. McAvoy neglected the dignity of Mr. Wall and embarrassed him.

So did Mr. McAvoy have the right to say the last word, no he shouldn’t have. He should have left it where Mr. Wall stopped talking, but Mr. McAvoy being the character he is had to have the last word to prove a point that Mr. Santorum is not a good person and is a racist person that shouldn’t become the president. This is all based to the subjectivity of Mr. McAvoy as he puts his interest first and contradicts himself, when he apologized to the whole nation for being like the rest of the TV broadcasting news shows.

Reference:

Ø SPJ Code of Ethics. Society of Professional Journalists. Improving and protecting journalism since 1909.

Retrieved from: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

Ø Code of Professional Ethics for Journalists.

Retrieved from: http://ethicnet.uta.fi/azerbaijan/code_of_professional_ethics_for_journalists