Tomorrow, I’m scheduled to discuss ethics with a class at the University of San Diego, and the biggest thing I’ve been worrying about is what to wear. Specifically, should I wear the flag pin a Union-Tribune employee made and sold to fellow workers to raise money for the victims of Sept. 11?
You may wonder why that is even an issue. Doesn’t The San Diego Union-Tribune run an American flag on its front page every day? Hasn’t the newspaper included flag posters in two of its editions since Sept. 11?
These days, the Union-Tribune building is awash with red, white and blue as employees — some journalists among them — either wear the colors or have them posted at their work spaces.
So, why am I worrying about wearing a little flag pin? As with most issues, journalists are divided about this. Some agree with the concerns of those ethicists who frown on the wearing of the colors while at work because they fear it will send a message about journalistic independence.
No one seems to question what a journalist does about this in her or his time off, however. Some journalists who draw the line at wearing the colors at work do not hesitate to display Old Glory at their homes.
At the Union-Tribune, each journalist has made up his or her own mind about whether to wear symbols of patriotism while representing the newspaper. However, unlike reporters who are in public on a daily basis, I haven’t had to make a decision. I work mostly in the office, communicating with readers by telephone or by e-mail.
My first instinct was to avoid doing anything. I could simply choose to leave the flag at home tomorrow — I don’t wear it every day. However, that would be sidestepping an ethical dilemma, ethics being among the very issues I was asked to discuss with students.
If I were to wear the flag, what kind of example would I be setting for future journalists? Would I be sending them the wrong signal about journalistic independence?
When I wear the pin, am I saying that the government is infallible? Do I wear it because I think the newspaper should not in any way be critical of the U.S. government?
Of course not. That’s not the American definition of patriotism.
Is there a danger of appearing biased? While I think it would be inappropriate for a working journalist to wear a button supporting one political party over another, that’s not what this is about. Don’t you think the events of Sept. 11 transcend issues of bias?
After giving this some thought, I know I’ll be wearing the flag pin. And I’ll be doing it because I am an American and because as one, I am blessed with the freedom to both wear the flag and disagree vehemently with my government. It is a treasured privilege, and one that I share with every American. I don’t lose that right because I’ve chosen to be a journalist. Also, as an American, I have an equal right not to wear the Stars and Stripes, and I have a right not to be penalized should I take that path.
As a journalist, I also did not lose the right to mourn for all those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 or to show support for the brave people involved in rescue efforts. Is there any question that the events of Sept. 11 were both a tragedy and an affront to all Americans?
As a colleague pointed out, the most troubling aspect of the media controversy over wearing of the colors is employers who decide what is proper or improper behavior for journalists. That’s not at issue at the Union-Tribune. Even with the flag on the front page, even with the displays of patriotism throughout the newspaper building, no one is being required to do anything. Wearing — or not wearing — the colors is an individual decision, and that’s how it should be.
As you might have noticed, the display of the flag has not prevented this newspaper from printing articles critical of the government. Expect to see them as part of the Union-Tribune coverage. And to those who think printing such criticism is un-American, think again. The freedom to dissent is as American as apple pie.
Newspapers do not exist to be cheerleaders for the government or anyone else. They exist to report the news, whether it’s favorable to the president and his administration, to the military, the judiciary, to any bastion of government.
Remember the stories about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal? Remember the controversy swirling about the U.S. Supreme Court in the last presidential election? Being an American is what makes it possible to report those stories; wearing a symbol of Americanism does not eradicate the ability to do so independently.
