Do unto Others as You Would have Done Unto You

We grow up learning the golden rule in the kindergarten sense;

Don't steal things from someone's cubby-hole
Don't pull that person's hair
When you borrow something, always give it back

And we always were asked, "Now, if that were you, how would you feel?"

From the earliest stages of our educational experience, we are taught to play nice and take other's feelings in to account. In other words, we are to practice the golden rule. But in many cases, as we grow older, we leave this mantra behind for a more selfish lifestyle. In the field of journalism (similar to many other professional fields) we are taught to be ahead of the curve-not to play nice. Be the first to catch a lead, be the first to report on a story, and all this is to be done with little thought as to who it may hurt.

As overdone as it is, I automatically think of the Joe Paterno and Penn State case. I know I don't need to go through the nitty gritty on this one, as EVERYONE knows EVERYTHING about this unfortunate set of events. I think of it because, when the student media group chose not to expose the situation-they were clearly not thinking, "now, if I were a victim of sexual assault in this case, what would I want people to do?" I think it goes without saying that the victims would prefer to expose the situation sooner rather than later to end the series of events. Rather than thinking of the small group of victims, the gate-keepers in this situation were acting with a "utilitarian" mind-set, trying to preserve the name of Penn. State and all those involved. But at what cost? The story eventually leaked, and at the expense of more people.

I understand this may be very idealistic of me, and perhaps childish, but I have always been a big fan of the golden rule. When deciding to capitalize on a story, withhold information, initiate a publicity stunt, or falsify any information, we should not only act upon our journalistic code of ethics but we should also act within the lines of the golden rule. Ask yourself, just as our kindergarten teachers would, "Now, if this were me, how would I feel?"