Most people do not spend much time thinking about the law, even though the law is all around them, all the time. As a society, we expect everyone to act in conformance with the law. Most people in society also expect people to act ethically. Note that for our purposes, unlawful behavior is generally also unethical. But not all lawful behavior is ethical. There are many things individuals and companies may do that are in accordance with law, but that may well be considered by many to be unethical. Unfortunately, we regularly and frequently see examples of unethical behavior in business.
The three primary purposes of this exercise are: 1) to encourage you to keep up with the world around you; and 2) to help you recognize just how much our society and your everyday life is regulated and controlled by law; and 3) to help you identify and reflect on some of the ethical challenges in society today.
Specifically, for this assignment, you are to find a news article reporting on a current event related to ethics in business or government. Your primary article should be from a print media source such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, the New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME magazine, Newsweek, the London Times, the Guardian, or similar source. You may use information from NBC news, MSNBC, ABC news, CBS news, CNN, Fox news, NPR, PBS, the BBC, or other similar news source as one of your secondary sources. You need to be able to identify and differentiate good information from poor information on the Internet. You must provide attribution to any source of information you use in writing your essay.
Generally, blogs are not viewed as reputable sources of information. There are however some blogs that are very reputable, and could be used as secondary sources, e.g., Nate Silvers http://fivethirtyeight.com/ blog focuses on statistical analysis of election polls, sports, and other issues. Other places to look for reputable blogs can be University websites (in the U.S. they use .edu domains). Researchers often post summaries of recent papers on University website blogs. For example, Harvards School of Public Health has a fabulous blog where their researchers and professors write articles about their research (in language the average person can understand).
In addition to being cautious about relying on blogs for information, readers must also be acutely aware that many sites are now blending news content with advertising content. Such information is being called sponsored content or native advertising. Such content is generally, and very intentionally, written in the same style as the actual news content on the site but it is advertising and not unbiased news. Note that opinion pieces and editorials are not news articles. Also, please note that sites such as Wikipedia, Quora, ask.com, and other similar sites where the public answers questions or provides the input to the site may never be used for academic purposes.
Your essay must provide the title of the article and a link. You must summarize the article itself, and then provide an analysis of the ethical issues involved. You may include your opinion on the matter in the conclusion section. Please note that although you may add additional facts not found in the original article under the analysis section, that is not the primary purpose of the analysis section. You need to analyze the ethical issues under the analysis section. For example, describe who acted unethically, what was unethical, why was it unethical, who responded to the unethical behavior, who was hurt by the unethical behavior, etc.
Remember, just because something may be lawful does not mean it is ethical. Also, what you may view as unethical may well be viewed ethical by others.
Your essay must be formatted as follows:
1. Do not use a title page.
2. Use 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
3. 1 inch margins all around.
4. Single spaced paragraphs with a 12 point space between paragraphs.
5. Times New Roman at 12 point font.
6. References are to be footnoted or endnoted. They may be in 10 point Times New Roman. Do not include a separate page for references.
7. References are to be in Chicago format.
8. The essay must be between 1.5 and 2 pages, including references. Do not exceed 2 pages.
9. The essay must be between 700 1000 words, not including footnotes.
10. You must use at least 2 references (the primary article and at least one additional reference).
11. You must bring a copy of your essay to class on the due date. That copy must be printed 2-sided. No stapled, clipped or separate pages will be accepted.
