UNDERCOVER JOURNALISM AND ETHICS

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials: "In 1981, a newspaper reporter bid for and bought a young woman, `Kamala', for Rs. 2,300 at a `sale' in Madhya Pradesh to establish trafficking in women and the involvement of bigwigs in the racket. More recently, Tehelka used deception and hidden cameras to expose `match fixing' in cricket and, more importantly, to show how easily penetrable and corruptible a section of the defence establishment was.

It was in 1887 that the celebrated Nellie Bly feigned illness, got herself admitted to a notoriously ill-administered New York lunatic asylum, and wrote a powerful expose that hastened legal reforms relating to the treatment of the mentally ill. It was socially purposeful and impactful undercover journalism at its best. Three decades ago a Pulitzer Prize for journalism was awarded to a reporter who concealed his identity in order to write a series of articles on voting irregularities in Chicago.

First, the information pursued must be directly and strongly linked to a larger social purpose.

Secondly, the public value of such information must clearly outweigh the injury caused by the deception and the privacy violation.

Thirdly, undercover methods must not be resorted to where the information can be gathered by straightforward means. "