​absence of Malice

​Absence of Malice starts out, Megan Carter on the staff of daily called the Miami Standard comes off as a hotshot reporter that seems to be in every movie. She smokes at her typewriter during the day and goes drinking with the men at night. Being on a first name basis with the Department of Justice helps her image as well. Though she has the look of a reporter, her actual performance of being a reporter is poor. The only part of the job she can do well is doing whatever it takes to get the story and turn in it on time. She does not take any precaution when sensitive information and does not double check her anonymous sources. Carter also fails to minimize harm with the people she is interviewing. The worst possible ethical issue she broke was sleeping with a source in her story.

​Aristotle’s argument that the right course of action almost always lies between two extremes applies to this movie. Carter did not follow the right course of action. All of her decisions were one side of the two extremes. The right course of actions for a reporter would be to report the truth fully while keeping true to the ethical code. Aristotle would believe that Carter was not living life well because she was making poor decisions. Sleeping with her subject is the extreme in interviewing a source. She could have gone to dinner with him or talked to him after the story was complete. Instead she created a conflict of interest. She also made no effort to minimize harm with her interviews; another extreme. Aristotle would argue that all of her actions were not doing the right thing. She needed to learn to balance her choices.

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