Logical Reasoning

PT9 · S4 · Q18 Marcus: For most ethical dilemmas

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Marcus: For most ethical dilemmas the journalist is likely to face, traditional journalistic ethics is clear, adequate, and essentially correct.

Marcus

Traditional journalistic ethics is clear, adequate, and essentially correct for most dilemmas. For example, once journalists have newsworthy information, they should publish it as soon as possible, with no delay for personal or professional interests.

Anita

Important information should of course go to the public; that is the job. But in the typical case, where a journalist has some information and is unsure whether it is yet important or newsworthy, this guidance is inadequate.

Evaluate

The stem asks for Anita's point, so the task is to find the claim her statements are built to support. She starts by agreeing with Marcus about the easy part: newsworthy information should be published. Then "But" marks her real contribution. Marcus's rule tells journalists what to do once they know something is newsworthy. Anita's observation is that the typical hard case comes earlier, when the journalist does not yet know whether the information is newsworthy, and there the rule says nothing useful.

Her point is narrow and precise. She does not say Marcus is wrong about everything, does not say traditional ethics is incorrect, and does not say no principle could ever help. She says the particular guidance Marcus offered does not help with the typical decision a journalist actually faces.

Goal

Find the answer that says Marcus's principle fails to help in the typical situation where a journalist must decide. The answer should match Anita's scope: this guidance, this kind of case, inadequate rather than wrong.

18.

The point made by Anita’s statements is most accurately expressed by which one of the following?

Marcus’ claim that traditional journalistic
Too Strong
Anita challenges one piece of guidance in one kind of case, the typical quandary about newsworthiness. She does not say Marcus's broad claim about most dilemmas is incorrect, and she concedes that the guidance is right where it applies. This answer widens her point to a verdict on the whole claim.
12% picked this
A typical case illustrates that
Bad Match
Anita's word is "inadequate," not "incorrect." She agrees the principle is right about publishing newsworthy information; her complaint is that it does not reach the typical case. Being unhelpful in some situations is not the same as being wrong.
7% picked this
Correct
The ethical principle that Marcus
Why this is right
Marcus cites the principle that newsworthy information should be published at once. Anita says that in the typical case, where the journalist is unsure whether the information is yet newsworthy, this guidance is inadequate. The principle does not help in the typical situation where a decision must be made, which is her point exactly.
Skill tested: Main Conclusion · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
73% picked this
There are common situations in
Too Strong
Anita says Marcus's guidance is inadequate in the typical case. She does not say no principle of journalistic ethics could help there. Some other principle might, and she never rules that out.
8% picked this
Traditional journalistic ethics amounts to
Out of Scope
Anita never describes traditional ethics as convoluted or as a mere description of the job. She accepts that publishing important information is the job and objects only that Marcus's rule leaves the typical hard case unaddressed.
0% picked this

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