'The ethics guy'

Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D.

Professional ethicist, regular guest on CNN, syndicated columnist and author of the 2005 hardcover book Life Principles: Feeling Good by Doing Good

TSN: When I say, "We report, you decide," you say ...

ETHICS GUY: I say that's the motto of FOX News, but it ought to be the guiding principle for all journalists. I think any rational person should approach any publication, including the SPORTING NEWS, with a healthy dose of skepticism. All news is filtered through human beings.

TSN: By and large, are the sports media ethical?

ETHICS GUY: The sports media in particular and the media in general are ethical, and yet there are lapses in judgment in all the media. But certainly because of the age in which we live now, it's harder than ever to get away with inappropriate conduct because of all the news organizations that are out there.

TSN: Who in sports makes The Ethics Guy really want to slander the heck out of somebody?

ETHICS GUY: The athletes who use steroids. That violates the most fundamental principle of all sports: fairness.

TSN: There's a guy in my office who's smarter, kinder, handsomer, more popular and way more productive than I am. I really hate the SOB. Is that wrong?

ETHICS GUY: Yes, because ethics isn't just about how you act but also how you feel. There are better and worse ways of feeling. Being jealous of a colleague's better looks and personality does nobody any good--especially you. It not only diminishes the object of our scorn, it diminishes us.

TSN: You think you're better than me?

ETHICS GUY: No. You and I are just doing our jobs and doing the best we can do. Sometimes we make mistakes with our choices. But as Vito Corleone--one of the great moral philosophers of the 20th century--would say, we should use all our powers and all our skills to make a difference.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning