Dateline- Louisiana, April 7, 2021: A 911 dispatcher was arrested for pocketing and spending money received in error when brokerage firm Charles Schwab deposited over one million dollars into her account instead of the intended $82.56 financial transfer. The woman was charged with theft, bank fraud, and illegal transfer of monetary funds as she knowingly utilized the financial windfall for the purchase of a home, an SUV, and other items. The case proved that a common ethical belief, namely “finder’s keepers…”, will not evade legal consequences.
In the matter of individual and professional ethics, we turn our attention to Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg and the recent conundrum of his inclusion on a White House text chain on the Signal app. Like our 911 dispatcher’s awareness of her suddenly bloated bank account, Mr. Goldberg was aware the information he was unexpectedly privy to was sent in error. (This assumes what occurred was not conspired by an anti-Trump mole in his administration.) In accordance with a journalist’s Ethical Code of Conduct, should Mr. Goldberg have contacted the White House, explained their error, deleted the text chain, and disclosed publicly that White House staff had made a critical mistake in protecting national security information? Or is “finder’s keepers…” a journalist’s ethical right of publication?
Mr. Golberg has become an example of what many Americans have come to perceive; journalism is not what it once was believed it to be. Mr. Goldberg displayed his ethical character for all to see and now seeks to bask in his self-aggrandizement. But does the high ground belong to Mr. Goldberg or is he the equivalent of our previously mentioned 911 dispatcher? He came into possession of something not belonging to him, treated it as if it was his to disseminate, then sensationalized it to satisfy his political bias. No doubt he will never be charged with any legal malfeasance but was his ethical conduct deficient?
And now a disclaimer- we’ve all suffered from errors in judgment due to ethical lapses. I have an advanced degree in ethics. I worked in health care for almost 20 years under the HIPAA regulation protecting personal medical information and was guided by ethical codes of conduct. I did my best to honor them, but with perfection? What do you think of Mr. Goldberg’s ethical conduct? See https://www.spj.org/spj-code-of-ethics/ to judge for yourself.
Daniel Cunningham, MBE, MA Jefferson, IA
