1: What do Blair’s actions suggest about his personal and professional ethics?
2: Blair’s issues with accuracy and corrections were well known to his supervisors, prompting one of his editors to send out an e-mail reminding all the journalists that “accuracy is all we have . . . it’s what we are and what we sell.”
What steps should they have taken to address Blair’s behavior?
3: Should we expect journalists to uphold a higher level of professional ethics than businesspeople? Why or why not?
4: Since the editors of pasadenanow.com are choosing to hire reporters they know for certain will be at a considerable distance from the stories they will be covering, does that change the ethics of the situation in comparison to the Blair story?
5: Should pasadenanow.com disclose the overseas location of its reporters? Why or why not?
6: Blair has since joined the “speaker circuit,” lecturing on ethics under the title “Lessons Learned.” Is it ethical to make money from lecturing on your own unethical behavior? Why or why not?