Did he overstep his role? Should a journalist simply observe and then report?
Or, if a journalist witnesses criminal activity, should they contact law enforcement?
Are there extenuating circumstances in this situation? You know, the area is totally submerged under water, the grocery store was likely closed (and stocked with food) and the locals who were trapped likely had nowhere else to get food.
Would you have informed the cops?
5 comments:
He's snitching. His role is only to observe. If he had simply said, "We're witnessing looting", and ended it there, he would have just been reporting. Does that alone give looters more visibility than they would want? Yeah, which sucks for them, especially if they really needed the food. But it's his job to relate what he sees. Calling the cops, on the other hand, is not his job. He stepped out of his lane and showed bias instead of just relaying the facts.
Oh, and this is Mack Massey.
Although ethics is always a major component in any profession as well as making life decisions, I strongly believe what is right and wrong should be weighed by the circumstance at hand. Tom Llamas did in fact call the police and notified them of what he called "looting" from a nearby supermarket; however, I strongly feel it was not necessary considering that hurricane Harvey just flooded most of Taxes and left grocery stores locked and flooded. If he was a victim that was starving would he have stolen food?
Me personally, I think it's better for food to be ate instead of being washed away in flood water. So did Llamas make the right decision by calling the authorities maybe,and not because there was stolen food involved, but because the police found a dead body in the process of his complaint.
Although ethics is always a major component in any profession as well as making life decisions, I strongly believe what is right and wrong should be weighed by the circumstance at hand. Tom Llamas did in fact call the police and notified them of what he called "looting" from a nearby supermarket; however, I strongly feel it was not necessary considering that hurricane Harvey just flooded most of Taxes and left grocery stores locked and flooded. If he was a victim that was starving would he have stolen food?
Me personally, I think it's better for food to be ate instead of being washed away in flood water. So did Llamas make the right decision by calling the authorities maybe,and not because there was stolen food involved, but because the police found a dead body in the process of his complaint
I think calling the authorities in this situation is quite unnecessary. The grocery store, at this point, is probably not under security anymore so the activity should maybe not be called a "robbery".
All things being equal, however, I, as a reporter, would call the police if I witness a situation like that but I definitely wouldn't put myself in the story, or post it on my social media because it just publicizes myself which is not good journalism.
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