Leighty Week 2 Case Study PDF

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Running Head: ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY

Ethical Responsibility Elizabeth J Leighty Champlain College July 19, 2020

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ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY

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According to the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) “Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough”[ CITATION SPJ14 \l 1033 ]. Journalists should verify sources, the accuracy of the information, avoid conflicts of interest, take responsibility, and correct their mistakes for the content they share with the public. A journalist is considered a professional and should be trusted to uphold ethical standards. Therefore, viewers should have been able to trust the information that Jim Cramer, a financial news reporter, and CNBC released to the public. Ethical Responsibilities “The individuals acting on behalf of their company are primarily responsible for moral actions and duties while the corporation carries a secondary or derivative moral responsibility. A corporation can thus only be held morally responsible for something if its members are already morally responsible”[ CITATION Pal14 \l 1033 ]. Jim Cramer and his colleagues at CNBC and other financial news outlets should be held to the same ethical responsibilities mentioned above. Unfortunately, they violated their ethical responsibilities by not doing their due diligence when reporting before and during the financial crisis. Jon Stewart’s journalistic integrity spotlighted Cramer and CNBC’s ethical issues. He reported how CNBC’s Rick Santelli became visibly outraged that President Obama was considering giving some portions of the bailout money to homeowners for their mortgages. Santelli referred to homeowners as “losers”. Santelli wanted bailout money to go to banks, large companies, and insurance agencies. Steward pointed out the CNBC’s reporting was based on CEO’s hopeful optimism about their company, not creditable, verifiable information. Over

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several days Stewart showed clips of journalists and company CEO’s stating positive outlooks for the company’s and then days or weeks later the opposite happened; such as bankruptcies and bailouts. He shared multiple examples of this. Stewart felt that the network did not consider seriously what was at stake and treated the situation like it was some kind of game. This caused bad decisions to be made by consumers who watch these reporters and thought they were making educated financial decisions. Their actions added to the financial crisis. Yet, Santelli was insulting homeowners who needed assistance in the crisis. Public Trust Cramer and his colleagues violated the public's trust with their lack of accurate, fair, and thorough reporting. “Trust is an action taken in reliance that the trusted person or institution will perform as expected. Trust typically involves some degree of vulnerability. If the trust is misplaced the trusting person stands to be affected negatively in some way” [ CITATION Pal144 \l 1033 ]. Jim Cramer, Rick Santelli and CNBC’s were negatively impacted by their lazy reporting. This ethical issue eventually diminished their reputation. Jim Cramer did admit on The Daily Show that mistakes were made and, insincerely stated, that he was going to do better. Dimensions of Trust CNBC’s viewers had a competency dimension of trust in the network. They believed that Cramer and CNBC could deliver ethical financial news reporting. Viewers trusted in their character and believed that they were capable of due diligence. They believed that the network would deliver ethical financial news reporting as they stated in their advertising of the financial shows and station. Viewers also trusted that the interests of CNBC were aligned with theirs. Many viewers had a risk of potential loss or gain and trusted the reporters and network to

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educate them on these risks. Some viewers may have felt they had alternative courses of action such as researching the information for themselves or consulting another financial professional. Viewers may have known that there was not any effect of the external constraint system if they followed the network's advice. The best they could do was to boycott the network[ CITATION Pal144 \l 1033 ]. Conclusion CNBC has a corporate ethical issue in business. Ethical questions have been raised about their journalistic standards. If the CNBC culture is going to change it will need the cooperation of their executives. If CNBC and Jim Cramer are going to regain the public’s trust, they should consider doing this by making sure they exercise due diligence when covering a story. They should investigate the story beyond just what the CEO’s are saying to them in an interview. They should be transparent and admit when they are wrong. If the CNBC reporters had just disclosed the limitations of their sources when they covered the stories in 2008 and 2009, they would have been transparent. If they would have just done their homework and presented all the facts and not just one side of the story, they would have provided their viewers with ethical journalism.

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References Bianco, R. (2009, March 15). Memo to Jim Cramer: Three rules to consider. Retrieved from USA Today: https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2009-03-15-jimcramer_N.htm France, L. R. (2009, March 13). Stewart seen as winner in showdown with Cramer. Retrieved from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/13/cramer.stewart.reaction/index.html Kramer, R. M. (2009, June). Rethinking Trust. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://bridgebetween.com/wp-content/uploads/rethinking-trust.pdf Palmer, D., & Nel, J. M. (2011). Week 2: Lecture - Discretion and Fiduciary Duty. Retrieved from Champlain College: https://champlain.instructure.com/courses/1362002/pages/week-2-lecture-discretion-andfiduciary-duty?module_item_id=61288993 Palmer, D., & Nel, J. M. (2011). Week 2: Lecture - The Trust Economy. Retrieved from Champlain College: https://champlain.instructure.com/courses/1362002/pages/week-2lecture-the-trust-economy?module_item_id=61288991 Palmer, D., & Nel, J. M. (2014). Week 1: Lecture - Arguments for and against Business Ethics. Retrieved from Champlain College: https://champlain.instructure.com/courses/1362002/pages/week-1-lecture-arguments-forand-against-business-ethics?module_item_id=61288969

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY Palmer, D., & Nel, J. M. (2014). Week 1: Lecture - Business Ethics and Professionals. Retrieved from Champlain College: https://champlain.instructure.com/courses/1362002/pages/week-1-lecture-businessethics-and-professionals?module_item_id=61288967 Palmer, D., & Nel, J. M. (2014). Week 1: Lecture - Overlapping Circles of Moral Responsibility. Retrieved from Champlain College: https://champlain.instructure.com/courses/1362002/pages/week-1-lecture-overlappingcircles-of-moral-responsibility?module_item_id=61288973 Palmer, D., & Nel, J. M. (2014). Week 1: Lecture - What are the Ethical Challenges of the Professional? Retrieved from Champlain Collete: https://champlain.instructure.com/courses/1362002/pages/week-1-lecture-what-are-theethical-challenges-of-the-professional?module_item_id=61288971 Palmer, D., & Nel, J. M. (2014). Week 2: Lecture - What is Trust? Retrieved from Champlain College: https://champlain.instructure.com/courses/1362002/pages/week-2-lecture-whatis-trust?module_item_id=61288985 SPJ Code of Ethics. (2014, September 6). Retrieved from Society of Professional Journalists: https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp The Daily Show with Jon Stewart CNBC Financial Advise. (2009, March 4). Retrieved from Comedy Central: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/uc9y5b/the-daily-show-with-jonstewart-cnbc-financial-advice The Daily Show with Jon Stewart EXCLUSIVE - JIM CRAMER EXTENDED INTERVIEW PT. 1. (2009, March 12). Retrieved from Comedy Central: http://www.cc.com/video-

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clips/fttmoj/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-exclusive---jim-cramer-extended-interviewpt--1 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart EXCLUSIVE - JIM CRAMER EXTENDED INTERVIEW PT. 2. (2009, March 12). Retrieved from Comedy Central: http://www.cc.com/videoclips/rfag2r/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-exclusive---jim-cramer-extended-interviewpt--22009 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart EXCLUSIVE - JIM CRAMER EXTENDED INTERVIEW PT. 3. (2008, March 12om). Retrieved from Comedy Central : EXCLUSIVE - JIM CRAMER EXTENDED INTERVIEW PT. 3...