Question

a marine captain is accusing a major news networks journalist of lying in a story. the journalist, who was with the marines on patrol, wrote that the helicopter he was in came under sniper fire. the journalist admits to his producers that he embellished the story. the journalist was not under fire, but other choppers behind him were struck. the producers want to minimize the damage to the network and are unsure how to proceed. what is the most ethical action for the network to take? have the journalist give the accurate account of the incident and apologize for lying to viewers have the journalist report on air that he was confused and \misreported\ the incident offer a settlement to the marine captain for withdrawing his accusation ask the journalist to discredit the marine captain by discussing the captains poor leadership in a new story

Explanation:

Journalism ethics demand truth - telling. The journalist lied and the network should take responsibility for the false reporting. Offering a settlement to suppress the accusation, having the journalist discredit the captain, or having the journalist claim "misreporting" instead of lying are all unethical attempts to avoid responsibility. The ethical thing is to have the journalist give the accurate account and apologize.

Answer:

have the journalist give the accurate account of the incident and apologize for lying to viewers