As media technology has evolved over the years, so has the way that information is gathered and
published. In the past, newspapers and other print publications were the primary sources of news information;
reporters had plenty of time to gather information and verify it through multiple sources before a story
was published. Today that model of journalism is nearly obsolete. Now is the time of the rapid-fire news
cycle; the rise of the Internet and round-the-clock cable news networks has in many cases channeled the
energy of journalists toward pushing out news as fast as possible. With the demand for up-to-the-minute
news and information increasing daily, reporters are under pressure to break news quickly or risk having their
story published first by another media outlet. Often, this rush leaves reporters with an ethical dilemma: in the
name of breaking news, should a story be published before it can be verified by multiple credible sources?
Ethics is not a subject where people can take a wait-and-see approach; reporters have to know how they will
act in these situations before they arise. “For choice implies a rational principle, and thought. The name, too,
indicates that something is chosen before other things” (Aristotle 56)