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Interview And Staff Of The Alligator

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Imagine a morning much like any other; you make your breakfast, sit at the table, open your paper, but suddenly you are greeted with picture of a dead unborn baby outside of a college campus dumpster. Should one find it trashy and in poor taste, or should one understand the gravity of the situation at hand and appreciate what the paper is trying to explain. How does one go about justifying such an appalling photo in a campus newspaper? In this case, editor and staff of The Alligator debated intensely and decided to run the image alongside an unfortunate story on the inside of the paper. The information provided on the case can be compared to the theories of ten different ethicists to create an informed opinion about whether or not the …show more content…

Neither of these options are preferable, so he considers options that are not as drastic. Furthermore, Aristotle uses virtue ethics, which calls into question the morals of the actor and the nature of the act itself. The editor wants to use the image as a tool for telling the story without intent for adding shock or disrupting the public. This is not a problematic motivation at the core, so the most in-between option is running the picture inside with a short blurb on the front page about it. Inside coverage of the story means the editor can tell their story to the fullest without forcing the delicate topic at the reader.
Immanuel Kant’s big focus is on treating others as one would treat themselves and specifically not treating others as a means to an end. Moreover, Kant does not believe any ends can justify any means. In this case, the end goal is too better inform the audience of the situation and what can be learned from it, and the means involve exposing a disturbing or even distasteful image to the public. Kant would not approve of the use of the offensive image.
In contrast, John Stuart Mill finds that a desirable end is the most valuable point when weighing decisions. Mill would find value in using the article as a tool for educating the audience, and would not find the use of the image as an ethical dilemma for this reason. While some of the readership would be offended, Mill would see that as a lesser point to preventing similar future

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