Recessive Interview Moral

Covert coverage, a form of interview, conceals the interviewees from knowing it and records news stories that have happened or are happening but not yet reported in a secret way, such as by secret taping or videotaping, hiding the identity of the interviewer, or other undercover means. In contrast to overt coverage, secret interviews are more effective in exposing the dark-side of or some illegal acts in society. This form of interview puts high value on people's right to know the truth, strengthens public supervision, promotes the realization of social justice, and thereby receives favorable response and support from the public. While bringing fresh and striking news to the receivers and benefits and honors to the press and the interviewers, covert coverage, however, brings more troubles and worries to the interviewees. Keeping the interviewees from knowing the real identity and intention of the interviewers, together with the misuse or over-use of this secret interview, is likely to result in the infringement of the rights of citizens, such as personality rights and rights of privacy. Due to this reason, people now have growing concern over and more questions about its rationality.As far as the rationality of covert coverage is concerned, this paper argues that we must analyze and approach the question first from ethical perspective. Since covert coverage subject has changed the interview content directly or indirectly through use of media technology, this journalistic interview then obtains its multi-faceted transitivity, and at the same time loses its original neutrality as a journalistic medium at different levels, and therefore acquires its value orientation. The connection among truth revelation by secret interviews, fact publishing and moderate exposure (including personal privacy) is by nature a "value judgment" rather than a "fact judgment". In other words, there does not exist the matter of "true" or "false" in the connection between truth revelation and moderate exposure, but the ethical question of "ought" or "ought not".From all the above-mentioned and faced with ethical queries covert coverage has received from the society and the theorists, this paper is to take moral defense for its rationality, which, nevertheless, cannot justify its misuse or over-use cases that are not rare nowadays. In view of this, this paper focuses on analyzing and discovering the fundamental reasons of the negative effects of covert coverage, and proposes some ethical principles that must be strictly conformed to in secret interviews, which would be of great importance when we are handling the dilemma covert coverage is now in. Meanwhile, further investigation into the specific approach to ethical balance in covert coverage to prevent and deal with misuse or over-use of covert coverage would be of theoretical and practical significance in resolving the intensifying contradictions in covert coverage.