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4 Pillars of An Ethical Culture: Did Fox News Fail?

Ethical Dilemma

Currently in the article chosen refers to the actions taken by FOX news regarding allegations about Bill O Reilly and the basis for the actions taken. In this article, two ethical dilemmas are considered by the writer. The first ethical dilemma that is shown in this article is of the workplace harassment perpetrated by Bill O Reilly and the cover-up and settlements that FOX news has done on behalf of Bill O Reilly. Bill O Reilly had known the history of harassing women at his workplace including women such as Andrea Mackris and Rebecca Gomez. These women were either the producer or a host at FOX news. FOX news did not come in the support of these women rather helped Bill O Reilly cover up his heinous acts.

The second ethical dilemma that is discussed in this article is the firing of Bill O Reilly on the basis of these sexual harassment charges. But in reality the dismissal was mostly due to pulling out of advertisers, which in turn was hurting the bottom line of FOX news shareholders and investors. So the actions taken by FOX were not to defend and protect business ethics but to keep their shareholders’ pockets fat and their bottom line secure. This shows that they took the necessary steps only when the actions of Bill O Reilly affected the company itself directly (HuffPost is now a part of Oath, 2017)

Decisions Taken in this Situation:

For the first ethical dilemma regarding sexual harassment of Andrea Mackris and Rebecca Gomez, the decision taken by FOX news was to cover up the matter. They helped Bill O Reilly in settling these allegations against him and forced the victims to give up all the evidence they had regarding their harassment. I would never agree with such a decision as this will stain the reputation of the person involved but the company as well. My person would have to fire the perpetrator involved and support the victims. This will increase employee confidence in the company and will be ethically right.

For the second ethical dilemma, FOX chose to fire Bill O Reilly for the allegations of harassment but most importantly because of the advertisers pulling out from the network. This was denting the shareholder income and the company could not have that. In my view, the decision taken is ethically very wrong. This is because a company should not only consider the views and considerations of just their shareholders but also the other stakeholders involved with their business. For example, they should have fired Bill O Reilly the minute these allegations came to light to support their employees who are one of their stakeholders. With the actions they took they symbolized that harassment is acceptable only until the affected party is not the owners of the company. Other than that the rest of the people can fend for themselves.

Ethical Theories

In the first situation, it shows that FOX news went against the teachings of Deontology, which states that the action taken against any incidence should be on the basis of whether the things are done are either right or wrong. FOX news did not care whether the actions of Bill O Reilly were right or wrong but were adamant on saving one of their top earners. Also, there is a clear negation of virtue theory. Where Bill O Reilly should have been a supporter or a mentor for these women rather than a harasser making it harder for them to come to work every day. Rather than building them up he was adamant on bringing them down.

FOX news also showed an ethically egoistic course of actions taken against Bill O Reilly. In which they only took a stand when their owners were being directly affected by the actions of Bill O Reilly. They put their interests above all others and would have kept supporting this harasser if the noose wasn't tightening around their neck. Also, rather than just focusing on the interests of their shareholders they should have shown some form of corporate social responsibility in their workings. They should have taken into consideration the effect of Bill O Reilly’s actions on the different stakeholders involved majorly the employees who are the backbone of their company.

References

HuffPost is now a part of Oath. (2019). Huffpost.com. Retrieved 13 June 2019, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/4-pillars-of-an-ethical-culture-did-fox-news-fail_b_58fe3feae4b086ce589813d9