Broadcast News

The film Broadcast News is a story that revolves around three individuals: Tom Grunick, Aaron Altman, and Jane Craig. The film examines the ethics of modern day electronic journalism focusing on three issues. First is that Grunick breaches ethics in that to be able to be successful, he manufactures tears for a date-rape segment on the network news. This raises the question: is it ethical for the media to portray a certain type of emotion to gain audience popularity or sympathy? It is also a problem of a lack of objectivity in the media. Second is it right to promote or favor an individual based on their appearance and not on their qualifications? This ethical problem arises when Grunick is favored by the managers and owners of the network, while Altman is better qualified for the position due to his intelligence and capabilities. This raises a problem of fairness and equality especially on how people are to be valued. Third is the ethical question of whether one should follow o...