Logical Reasoning

PT9 · S4 · Q19 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.

Conclusion (supplied by question stem)

Traditional journalistic ethics is NOT clear, adequate, and correct for most ethical dilemmas journalists face.

Evidence

In the typical case there’s uncertainty whether some information is newsworthy in the first place, so the general journalistic rule that is inadequate.

Evaluate

There's an important New Concept in the Conclusion: most ethical dilemmas.

Anita seems to supply an example of a situation in which traditional ethics does not provide clear, adequate, correct guidance.

But is this sort of situation characteristic of "most ethical dilemmas" that journalists are likely to face? Maybe the ethical dilemmas they're likely to face have nothing to do with this sort of situation.

Furthermore, even if the ethical rule Marcus cited about "going to the press immediately with newsworthy info" wouldn't apply to this situation, maybe some other aspect of traditional journalistic ethics would tell journalists what to do in such a situation.

Goal

Let's look for an answer ruling out the idea that some other part of journalistic ethics would give clear/correct advice in the situation Anita describes, or saying that the situation Anita describes isn't what most ethical dilemmas are like.

19.

In order to conclude properly from Anita’s statements that Marcus’ general claim about traditional journalistic ethics is incorrect, it would have to be assumed that

  1. Correct

    whether a piece of information

    Why this is right

    This is lovably weak, which means when we negate it, we'll get a very strong idea. Does it weaken the argument if we say to Anita, "trying to figure out whether a piece of info is newsworthy NEVER raises ethical dilemmas". Yes! If Anita is concluding, "traditional ethics don't provide clear guidance to most ethical dilemmas" based on the idea that "traditional ethics don't provide clear guidance when it comes to whether a piece of info is newsworthy", she's clearly thinking that "deciding on whether a piece of info is newsworthy" is relevant to "ethical dilemmas". Negating this answer means that those two things are related at all.

    Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    57% picked this

  2. there are circumstances in which

    Out of Scope: ethically wrong

    Anita never makes any judgments about things that are ethically right or wrong.

    14% picked this

  3. the most serious professional dilemmas

    Irrelevant Comparison: most serious dilemmas

    This argument has nothing to do with ranking ethical dilemmas vs. other types of dilemmas. It just has to do with ethical dilemmas, and whether or not traditional ethics is equipped to offer guidance on most of them.

    2% picked this

  4. there are no ethical dilemmas

    Too Strong: no

    Anita does not have to believe that an adequate system of ethics would resolve EVERY SINGLE ethical dilemma. She's only arguing that traditional ethics don't give clear guidance for MOST dilemmas.

    4% picked this

  5. for a system of journalistic

    Too Strong: every

    This answer is oddly almost equivalent in meaning to (D). Both of them are too strong. She is only trying to prove that traditional ethics don't provide clear guidance for most ethical dilemmas. She hasn't committed herself to any ideas about what an adequate system would do.

    23% picked this

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