Business Ethics

Business Ethics

Business Ethics National Enquirer Case
“National Enquirer Inc. publishes and distributes a weekly general interest periodical under the name, National Enquirer. National Enquirer periodical contains information and editorial content related to investigative reporting, celebrity gossip and features, human-interest stories and covers articles about health, food, and household affairs topics. The company is based in Boca Raton, Florida. National Enquirer operates as a subsidiary of American Media Operations Inc “(Frost, 2011 ¶1).
National Enquirer has a reputation for stretching the truth about the stories contained within the magazine. Often times the stories are derogatory toward celebrity figures, and are grossly exaggerated creating a perception of that person that is not positive. This would be defamation of character “Defamation of Character, is false and unprivileged spoken words or written publication, which exposes any living person to hatred, contempt, ridicule” (Aaron Larson, 2005 p. 1).
The stories have to be somewhat true so the journalist will print just enough truth to make the story believable. However, after many lawsuits and out of court settlements the magazine has tried to improve its public image. “The National Enquirer’s reputation is still poor, even with the improvements over the past years, according to the Pew Research Center’s latest survey” (Hannah, 2004 p.1).
Jones versus National Enquirer Case study:
“The National Enquirer published an article about Shirley Jones, an entertainer. Jones, a California resident, filed a lawsuit in California state court against the National Enquirer and its president, who was a resident of Florida. The California lawsuit sought damages for alleged defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 104 S.Ct. 1482, 79 L.Ed.2d 804, Web 1984 U.S. Lexis 4“(Supreme Court of the United States).
The National Enquirer chose to ignore the petition...