Phone Case

1. Which of the four views of ethical behaviour can best be applied to this case? Justify your answer.

Moral rights view.

The unethical, (not to mention illegal) behaviour of the NoW staff, private investigators, police, politicians and all involved in the phone hacking corruption scandal went against all the fundamental rights of privacy.

2. What rationalisations for this unethical behaviour would the editors, reporters, private investigators and police have given?

The police didn’t rationalise their actions because they were getting paid for information and knew that their actions were corrupt and unlawful. The editors and reporters justified their participation because they believed that breaking news was news no matter how it was obtained. They did it to inform their readers and to have exclusivity on breaking stories but the main aim was to increase their readership through sensationalism.

3. What ‘social responsibility’ strategy did NoW try to implement when the scandal first broke, and how did this change as the scandal unfolded?

Their ‘social responsibility’ strategy was to justify their stories by saying business is business and it was their responsibility as a company to increase their readership and hence, maximise profits. They also justified their actions by saying they were making the public aware of various current affairs. As well they included stories of well-known sport stars, celebrities and the Royal family, always news worthy topics. Once investigations started and the scandal unfolded, it became obvious that NoW’s actions were highly illegal and therefore a complete disregard for all individuals right to privacy. It also became obvious that NoW had deliberately ignored evidence of malpractice and covered up evidence.