Professional ethics is essential in shaping how things are done at the workplace and giving guidance on what is acceptable in one's profession. Spotlight is a highly rated film featuring how a press investigative unit, the Boston Globe , highlights a major scandal that rocks the clergy of a Catholic Church in the Boston Community. The film is based on a true story of the systemic sexual abuse of children by the priests of the Boston Catholic Church located in the Archdiocese of Boston. The film focuses on two major institutions, the Catholic Church and the Boston Globe . The Boston community relies on the Boston Globe to give them accurate and trustworthy information on the current and emerging issues in the community and the world alike. It relies on the church to nourish them spiritually. The community members trusted the church with their bounties, and even their children, to be taught and spiritually-molded by the priests as they grow up. The community believes and looks up to the priests for direction and spiritual counsel, and people expect that the clergy will take a leading stance to rebuke and condemn all acts of wickedness. Contrary to the norm, in the movie, it was the priests who were exercising the most heinous of acts to innocent souls, directly against the ethical values that a church should stand for.
Ethical Dilemma
Often, people ignore ethical dilemmas in films, because they only want to look at the superficial and the appealing part; thus, closing their eyes to reality. The Oxford Dictionary defines ethical dilemmas as “situations where one has to make a difficult choice between two courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle.” The movie poses several ethical problems. One obvious ethical issue in the film is journalism ethics. In the film, journalists are required to stick to the ethics of their profession. At the same time, they are required to safeguard the reputation of the church . The priests use their power of persuasion and moral pressure to satisfy their sexual passions by sexually molesting children. They violate the community’s trust by going against the spiritual tenets of the church itself. From the very beginning, the priests defy every religious requirement as held by the beliefs of the church. The priests not only breach the trust of the Boston community, but they also betray their faith and their religious principles to quench their sexual passion. In the minds of the journalists, to protect the reputation of the church may come first, but it would mean covering the wicked acts of the clergy who have assumed the sheep’s coating yet inwardly they are ravening wolves . The Boston Globe had to choose between hiding the truth or tarnishing the church's reputation.
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Professional Conduct
Professional conduct refers to the regulations that govern members of different professional bodies. The newspaper’s journalists knew the significance of the church to the members of the community as they were also members of the church. They understood too well that publishing the wicked acts of priests would taint the name of the church. The journalists knew that withholding the truth from the community and the entire world would be unforgivable. The situation was disturbing and morally trying, but the journalists had to make a decision. They were finally compelled to stick to their professional ethics, and they went ahead and published the wicked stories of the clergy . The fact that people do not see such bold stances in the media houses today reveals that journalists are either ignorant or unmindful of professional ethics in journalism. The film further shows how influential journalism can be when journalists choose to embrace their professional ethics. To stand firmly on one's professional ethics would mean laying aside personal opinions, preconceived ideas, and non-professional issues. While the film reveals the power of standing faithful to professional ethics, it also shows how much unforgivable and expensive it is, if journalists choose not to stick to their professional ethics.
The film highlights powerful forces trying to hinder the truth by all means, but the journalists did not yield to the pressures. They maintained their loyalty to their professional ethics . In doing this, the journalists exemplified the standards of professional ethics in journalism. Despite being ethically-challenged in their personal, moral, decision-making, and ethical choices, they still managed to publish the sad report. The Boston Globe editorial leadership had strong ethical standards and professional guidance, which ensured accurate service to the public and their readers (Cranston, 1996). On their side, the clergy at the Catholic Church registered a shameful failure to stand faithful to their call of duty, and a massive breach of the trust of the Boston Community. The clergy has a role in shaping the morality and spiritual direction of the people and is responsible for rebuking any acts or utterances that go against good morals defined in religious books. However, a lack of faithfulness to their professional ethics determines their utter failure. If it were not for the decision of the journalists to stand firmly on the ethics of their profession, the sexual scandals involving the clergy would have continued unknown to the community. Journalism plays a primary role in maintaining the morality of the society, especially when informing the masses about the rottenness in institutions that hold high stakes of public interest. Ultimately, faithfulness to professional ethics pays off in the movie.
Importance of Ethics and/or Legal Ethics in Society
In my opinion, ethics is fundamental in the community. First, the society's stance on morality depends often on how much the people hold onto the universal tenets of moral, professional, and legal ethics, depending on the context of an individual's environment. Ethics is necessary for several reasons, but the most notable one is the creation of credibility and trust with public institutions and people, in particular. Public organizations and institutions such as churches and government bodies are required to hold the highest claims of integrity and openness, as held by moral ethics. For example, in the movie, the church is trusted by people as one institution that they can depend on to lead and guide them in standing for principles of honesty, integrity and stick to ethical values in the highest sense of the same. The movie is the perfect example of how much harm there can be when some people or a whole institution chooses not to follow the very principles of ethics that they were required to follow in society.
Furthermore, the act of the church clergy turns out to be the greatest fraud in society causes a train of more issues. The church betrays the trust of the people and reveals how uncultured and wicked the clergy is. The rottenness among the church leaders weakens the confidence of the people to an extend of distorting their conceptions of morality. Ethics spans far and wide and is closely connected with legal ethics. The lawyers are disposed to an ethical dilemma of defending the ethics of their profession in rightfully defending their clients. At the same time, they are supposed to uphold the moral standards of what the church should stand for. In general, ethics is a good thing in society as it creates a general stance of differentiating right from wrong. Ethics is applied in decision-making and choosing what to hold onto as good and what to shun as evil. Without ethics, there would be such a declension of moral standards in the society that people would not be able to differentiate between good and evil.
Conclusion
The church has a powerful influence on peoples’ understanding of values and in defining their general behavior. However, a lack of commitment to professional and ethical values can lead to the greatest moral decay in society. Strict ethical responsibility, whether from individuals or public organizations, is part of what defines moral principles, and it is the backbone of moral stability to any society. Professional ethics are the guiding rules in every profession, and practicing them is very crucial. Therefore, ethical values should be highly regarded by all, and any deviation from the smallest of the ethical claims should be met with an equal measure of seriousness. People should be taught the importance of upholding professional ethics in their professions to maintain moral sobriety in society. In participating in the most heinous of crime, the clergy of the Catholic Church in Boston failed the people whom they lead and guide spiritually. On the other hand, the act of the Boston journalists to publicize the scandal shows how beneficial upholding personal and professional ethics can be. Overall, ethical values are very vital to sustaining the morality soundness in society.
References
Cranston, R. (1996). Legal ethics and professional responsibility . Clarendon Press
