For more information, see this week’s Research Report.

by Rushworth M. Kidder

If you’re in search of scurrilous, spiteful, and vilifying prose, the nation’s archives of political writing are a fine place to start. In the eighteenth century, the framers of the U.S. Constitution faced all manner of calumny in the newspapers of their day. The slavery debates of the nineteenth century were rancid with verbal abuse. By the early twentieth century, yellow journalism was as drenched in vituperative accusation as it was devoid of verifiable accuracy.

But I suspect that none of this holds a candle to today’s nastiness. What surfaces in commentary programs on cable television and talk radio is just a hint. The mother lode of negativity surely lies in the blogosphere. Hour by hour, it seems, the postings by bloggers — and especially the responses from their readers — are laying down sedimentary layers of unverified and anonymous attack that will provide sobering core samples for future historians.

Perhaps that’s not surprising. We’re living through an unprecedented period in which every citizen can be a “published” commentator. If you want your voice heard, you no longer need to buy a printing press, create a distribution network, and build a corral of writers — or win the approval of those who have such things. In the web’s great democratization of information, you simply go online and articulate your views for the world. And in response, your readers offer their views, which often garner responses themselves — creating vast threads of conversation that range from constructive commentary to blistering negativity to poisonous inanity.

All of this has caused me to be deeply grateful for the readers of Ethics Newsline®. In our decade of existence, we’ve attracted exceptionally thoughtful letters. Our readers bring to the table high standards of values, ethics, and character. They expect such standards in our writing, and they return it to us in the civility of their comments.

And that set me thinking. What if we could capture and codify those standards? Could we begin to make a difference to blog postings — and readers’ comments — everywhere?

Since we’ve recently added a reader response function to Ethics Newsline, it made sense to start at home by setting out the standards we expect. We’re not seeking to correct past problems — as I say, happily we’ve been mostly free from the blogosphere’s excesses. But we do want to emphasize our commitment to solution-oriented journalism. We want to invite into the conversation those who care more about progress than blame. And we want to reinforce our purpose, which is to elevate awareness of and support for the ethical principles that underlie civil society.

So here’s a draft of “A Blog-Poster’s Code of Ethics”:

As a resident of a global community of engaged thinkers, I agree to abide by the five shared values that create and sustain communities everywhere:

RESPECT. Communities depend on mutual respect. In my posts, I will respect the dignity, motivation, and intelligence of others at all times. I will neither engage in personal attacks or derogatory comments, nor tolerate those who do. While I welcome vigorous and strong debate, I will nevertheless strive to maintain civility in the face of disagreement and reasonableness in the presence of polarization.

RESPONSIBILITY. Communities comprise identifiable, recognizable individuals. I will take responsibility for what I write, using my own name rather than hiding behind the anonymity of an avatar or pseudonym. If I absolutely must remain anonymous, I will consult the editors to ensure that they know my identity and that readers know why I am not using my name.

HONESTY. Communities thrive on transparency. I will strive for candor, openness, and truth telling in my posts. I will avoid gossip, innuendo, unsourced data, and deceptive spin, but will seek to reflect accuracy, completeness, and relevance — the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth — in my comments.

FAIRNESS. Communities require the even-handed application of justice. I will seek always to represent issues as fairly as possible, honoring arguments on both sides even as I seek to persuade others to choose my side. But I will strive to avoid bias, discrimination, and misrepresentation, and will courageously expose bigotry and prejudice where I find it.

COMPASSION. Communities prosper through mutual caring. I will strive to use my posts to elevate and ennoble, rather than to lambaste, tear down, or harshly criticize others. Seeking to promote kindliness and good will, I will treat other people and their ideas with the same sense of caring attention I would want from them.

We’d like to feature this code as a standing part of our response page, asking readers to click the “I agree” box before posting a comment. And we’d like to see this code, or something like it, taken up by other blogs. But first we’d like to hear from you. So please tell us what you think.

©2009 Institute for Global Ethics

Find this and previous weeks’ commentaries online as a podcast titled Ethicast™ now available on iTunes. Subscribe today!

“It makes it much easier for the drug companies to pony up the $80 billion because they’ll be making more money.”

– Steven Findlay, senior healthcare analyst with advocacy group Consumers Union, quoted in a New York Times piece on Monday. The Times reports that U.S. drug companies are jacking up prices ahead of possible healthcare reform that could curb drug spending in coming years. While drug companies have agreed to cut U.S. drug spending by $8 billion a year for 10 years — $80 billion total — they have been raising prices on their most popular drugs, effectively adding “more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill,” notes the Times.

The price jumps come even as the U.S. Consumer Price Index has fallen by 1.3 percent in the last year. A spokesman for Merck, which hiked its prices nearly 9 percent in the last year, said the increases “have no connection to healthcare reform,” notes the Times.

Source: New York Times, Nov. 15.

Financial Services Authority, the national bank regulator, will judge executives on their ability to foster ethical culture as well as on financial expertise

LONDON
Britain’s top bankers will be given what amounts to an ethics test to see if they are fit to run their institutions, the nation’s regulatory agency said last week.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) will intensify a process that already has blackballed 18 candidates for senior banking positions in the past year, reports the Times of London.

Past vetoes have centered primarily on financial acumen, but Hector Saints, the head of the FSA, says the emphasis in the future will be on the ability to foster an ethical culture in their organizations, according to the Times.

Saints has been outspoken about the role ethics played in Britain’s banking crisis, and was quoted by the U.K. Press Association as saying, “There remains, I believe, an absence of the acceptance of collective responsibility for what has happened.”

“I personally remain unconvinced that all senior management have taken on board the need to change and operate in a genuinely different manner,” Saints said.

The FSA conducts its testing through face-to-face interviews of executives, reports Bloomberg.

In related news, one of Britain’s leading banking executives last week admitted that banks have “much to be sorry for” after the regulators’ imposition. Barclay’s chief executive, John Varley, writes in a London Daily Mail essay: “My belief is that the work of banks is important to the economies of the world; and is therefore important to society. But with that role goes the obligation to conduct our business responsibly and to support economic progress.”

“The industry has much to be sorry for, and, as the chief executive of a big bank, I have expressed sorrow and regret for the errors that we, as a sector, made,” he wrote.

Sources: Times of London, Nov. 13 – Bloomberg, Nov. 9 – U.K. Press Association, Nov. 9 – London Daily Mail, Nov. 9.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 26 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 19 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 21 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 25, 2008.

While some sectors lag, ethical banking is strong; recent surveys indicate substantial interest in ethical investment, even if it still accounts for small share of marketplace

LONDON and GLASGOW
The United Kingdom is seeing mixed results on ethical investments, according to several reports published in concert with the recent National Ethical Investment Week, which was organized by a coalition of charities, fund managers, and financial advisers.

The Glasgow Herald notes that while there apparently is great public concern about the environment and the ethics of the nation’s banking industry, there is little evidence that Scottish investors really are interested in putting money into ethical funds. A straw poll of investment advisers conducted by the Herald indicates little demand for green and ethical investments.

Still, the London Daily Mail reports that another poll indicates that two-thirds of investors in Britain want to invest ethically, but are challenged by the prospect of garnering returns comparable to traditional investments.

The London-based Independent reports that one area of investment, ethical banking, seems to be holding up well in the aftermath of Britain’s banking crisis, which the report claims has caused many to lose faith in the mainstream industry.

Perhaps the most innovate take on this came from the Financial Times, which cites a study purporting to show that as many as two in three investors are ethical at heart, but don’t realize it.

A survey from Co-Operative Investments shows that even though ethical investment currently accounts for less than 2 percent of the overall U.K. market, 65 percent of investors actually want to make ethical investments after their options are explained to them.

Zack Hocking, head of investments at Co-Operative, told the Financial Times: “The study confirms that sustainable investment is attractive to a majority of investors providing they understand the remit and the opportunities…. It also clearly shows the important role the advice industry has to play in promoting sustainable investments to all consumers and not just those of an ethical persuasion.”

Sources: Financial Times, Nov. 12 – Independent, Nov. 8 – Daily Mail, Nov. 8 – Glasgow Herald, Nov. 6.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 15 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 15, 2008 — Related Newsline story, July 21, 2008 — Related Newsline story, July 14, 2008 — Related Newsline story, June 2, 2008.

The issue is reported to be one factor slowing Obama administration’s decision on military policy; allies, including Britain and Germany, express concerns about integrity of Karzai administration

KABUL
Pressure continues to mount as the Obama administration tries to decide whether to commit more troops in Afghanistan, and according to world press reports, corruption is one of the major issues holding up the process.

The U.K. Guardian reports that NATO allies, including Britain, are becoming anxious about the delay. Nevertheless, according to a source cited by the paper, the United States is mindful of past attempts to try to prop up corrupt governments and unsure about how to pressure the current Afghan regime into cleaning up its act.

According to an opinion piece carried by CNN, one concern is that in addition to corruption problems under his regime, Afghan president Hamid Karzai also is confronting foreign fears that he stole the election through rigged voting and therefore represents just another small faction in the nation’s turbulent politics.

The Deutsche Welle news service reports that Germany, which has 4,300 troops deployed in Afghanistan, issued an anticorruption ultimatum when Defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg made his maiden voyage to the country and demanded reform.

Karzai’s administration hit back at the West last week, saying the government was committed to fighting corruption and that some of the responsibility must lie with the international community in battling graft in aid contracts, notes the Agence France-Press.

Karzai is slated to be sworn in for another term on November 19.

Sources: AFP, Nov. 13 – Deutsche Welle, Nov. 12 – Guardian, Nov. 12 – CNN, Nov. 12.

For more information, see: Related Newsline Commentary, Nov. 9 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 9 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 8 — Related Newsline story, May 18 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 30.

Ethical issues, including the online marketing of drugs, are prominent in health and science reports

VARIOUS DATELINES
Several major reports last week dealt with the intersection of medicine and ethics. Among the coverage:

• Doctors in Ireland could face sanctions if they are not candid with patients about medical errors, according to a report from the Irish Times. A revised guide to professional conduct says doctors not only must acknowledge when an error happens, but if appropriate, must apologize and demonstrate to the patient that a lesson was learned that will reduce the chance of the mistake happening again.
• Faculty and staff at the University of Minnesota will be prohibited from making product endorsements and ghost-writing research papers under a draft ethics policy, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. There’s particular concern over the financial relationships between medical researchers and the pharmaceutical industry, according to the Pioneer Press, leading university officials to propose a ban on lectures intended to market a drug and the practice of faculty signing their names to research papers prepared by others, including drug company employees.
• A lobbying group for the pharmaceutical industry is proposing a seal of approval for web and social-media marketing of medications, trade journal Advertising Age reports. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association wants regulators to define clear rules for operating online, according to the Associated Press. The problem: In traditional TV, radio, and print ads, marketers list possible side effects in accordance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules. But in the abbreviated space given to sponsored links and mentions on social-media pages, there isn’t room. Instead, pharmaceutical industries want a logo or seal in place of the disclosures. The logo would link viewers to a page containing all the relevant risk information, reports the AP.

Sources: AP, Nov. 14 – Irish Times, Nov. 13 – St. Paul Pioneer Press, Nov. 13 – Advertising Age, Nov. 12 – BusinessWeek, Nov. 12.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 9 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 19 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 28 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 21.

Eliot Spitzer back in spotlight with speech on ethics; New York Times editorializes about role of redistricting in creating “culture of corruption”; both sides tread carefully in opening of corruption case against Baltimore mayor

VARIOUS DATELINES
Ethical issues were prominent in the week’s top political news. Among the stories:

• Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer addressed a packed hall at a Harvard ethics center, reports the Boston Herald, amid criticism that his involvement in a prostitution scandal made him an unfit choice for an ethics lecturer. Spitzer largely avoided speaking about the incident, focusing instead on the role of government in regulating Wall Street.
• The New York Times last week editorialized about the ethics of redistricting in New York State’s political system. “Mapmaking in Albany,” the Times argues, “is a dark art form designed to make absolutely certain that incumbents in the majority party are safe from electoral competition (a k a democracy).” The piece claims that laws regarding that districts be reasonably compact — and not drawn in complex patterns that serve no purpose other than to isolate blocs of voters — are poorly enforced and full of loopholes. “There is little chance of changing Albany’s corrupt culture without real political competition and the possibility of a full legislative housecleaning,” the editorial continues. “The only way to do that is to wring much of the party politics and self-interest out of the redistricting process. New York lawmakers need to establish an independent mapmaking system that gives voters a real choice on Election Day.”
• Prosecutors and defense attorneys made their opening arguments last week in the corruption trial of Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon. The Christian Science Monitor reports that lawyers in the case are attempting not only to prove their side but to navigate the traditionally tricky waters of cases involving high-ranking officials. “There is a heightened scrutiny for everyone involved in the process when you’re prosecuting a public official,” Steven Levin, a Baltimore defense attorney and former federal prosecutor who handled public corruption cases, told the Monitor. “The spotlight is not just on the public official — it’s going to be on the prosecutors, the defense attorneys, the judge, the family in the audience. Everybody has to bring their A-game to the courtroom.” One special area of turmoil in this case: Prosecutors must prove to the jury that it’s worth the expense and disruption to the city to prosecute the case, since the charges against her allege that she misappropriated only about $1,500 in gift cards.

Sources: Boston Herald, Nov. 12 – New York Times, Nov. 12 – Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 12.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 26 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 12 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 12.

Also last week, a German murderer wants his criminal record purged from Wikipedia, saying he’s done his time

VARIOUS DATELINES
Last week’s media-ethics file included coverage of lying, plagiarism, criminal records, and facial recognition software. Among the stories:

• An unusual speaker appeared at Washington and Lee University’s Journalism Ethics Institute in Lexington, Virginia: Jayson Blair, the former New York Times reporter who was caught fabricating facts in dozens of stories. Blair, who said that his appearance at the university would be the last time he spoke publicly about the plagiarism incidents, told the audience that personal problems led him down a slippery slope of lying, according to a report in the Roanoke Times. “I was sick, and that is a large part of it. I was immature,” Blair said. He told the audience that lying is a gradual and erosive process, and eventually he became accustomed to breaking the rules.
• A convicted murderer from Germany has sued Wikipedia, arguing that his name should be removed from the account of a murder for which he was convicted and spent 15 years in jail, CNET reports. He claims the article is a violation of German privacy law, which is, according to the suit, designed to allow criminals to re-integrate into society. As this issue went to press, Wikipedia had not taken action on the matter.
• NBC’s Scott Budman writes that the “coolest and creepiest thing on Facebook” is a new third-party application called Photo Tagger, which uses facial-recognition software to identify people in members’ photo albums. Budman said that when he tried the application, it accurately identified people — with only occasional mistakes among siblings. The problem, he maintains, is that the software “can quickly and accurately identify someone who may not know they’re in your album, or who may not be a friend of yours.”

Sources: NBC Bay Area, Nov. 13 – CNET, Nov. 12 – Roanoke Times, Nov. 9.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, July 6 — Related Newsline story, June 1 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 26, 2004 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 15, 2004.

Survey of 14 nations finds lingering affection for communism, disenchantment with how democracy is working

From the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project:

“Nearly two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, publics of former Iron Curtain countries generally look back approvingly at the collapse of communism. Majorities of people in most former Soviet republics and Eastern European countries endorse the emergence of multiparty systems and a free market economy.

“However, the initial widespread enthusiasm about these changes has dimmed in most of the countries surveyed; in some, support for democracy and capitalism has diminished markedly. In many nations, majorities or pluralities say that most people were better off under communism, and there is a widespread view that the business class and political leadership have benefited from the changes more than ordinary people.

“Nonetheless, self reported life satisfaction has risen significantly in these societies compared with nearly two decades ago….

“The acceptance of — and appetite for — democracy is much less evident today among the publics of the former Soviet republics of Russia and Ukraine, who lived the longest under communism.

“In contrast, Eastern Europeans, especially the Czechs and those in the former East Germany, are more accepting of the economic and societal upheavals of the past two decades.

“East Germans, in particular, overwhelmingly approve of the reunification of Germany, as do those living in what was West Germany. However, fewer east Germans now have very positive views of reunification than in mid-1991….

“One of the most positive trends in Europe since the fall of the Wall is a decline in ethnic hostilities among the people of former communist countries….

“Concern about Russia is another sentiment shared by both Eastern and Western Europeans. A majority of the French (57%) and 46% of Germans say Russia is having a bad influence on their countries; this view is shared by most Poles (59%) and sizable minorities in most other Eastern European countries. The exceptions are Bulgaria and Ukraine, where on balance Russia’s influence is seen as more positive than negative.

“As for the Russians themselves, there has been an upsurge in nationalist sentiment since the early 1990s. A majority of Russians (54%) agree with the statement ‘Russia should be for Russians’; just 26% agreed with that statement in 1991. Moreover, even as they embrace free market capitalism, fully 58% of Russians agree that ‘it is a great misfortune that the Soviet Union no longer exists.’ And nearly half (47%) say ‘it is natural for Russia to have an empire.’

“These are among the major findings of a new, 14-nation survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project that was conducted Aug. 27 through Sep. 24 among 14,760 adults….

“While the current polling finds a broad endorsement for the demise of communism, reactions vary widely among and within countries….

“Opinions among east Germans about the impact of unification on their lives are consistent with one of the most striking trends observed in the new survey. People in former communist countries now rate their lives markedly higher than they did in 1991, when they were still coming to grips with the massive changes then taking place. This is true even in countries where overall levels of satisfaction with life — as well as positive assessments of political and economic changes — are significantly lower than in the most upbeat of the nations surveyed….

“While the current survey finds people in former communist countries feeling better about their lives than they did in 1991, the increases in personal progress have been uneven demographically, as has been acceptance of economic and political change….

“The demographic gaps in well-being among the publics of former Iron Curtain countries were suggested by reactions to the end of communism two decades ago. It was the young, the better educated and the urban populations who were cheering. How older, less well educated and rural people would adapt was then identified as one of the principal challenges to acceptance of democracy and capitalism. This remains the case, especially in Russia and Ukraine, where people who now rate their lives well voice the strongest support for democratic values, while those less satisfied are the least disposed to the new values.

“Indeed, the prevailing view in Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary is that people were better off economically under communism. Only in the Czech Republic and Poland do pluralities believe that most people are now better off. Furthermore, the consensus in many of these countries is that ordinary people have benefited far less than have business owners and politicians….

“The embrace of political rights and civil liberties is also varied and disparate across countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. On every dimension studied, more people say they value these rights and liberties than say they enjoy them.

“A fair judiciary is the value most prized in the former communist countries surveyed. And in every country in the region, large numbers say that right does not prevail. Freedom of speech, a free press and even honest elections are given somewhat lower priority in most societies, especially Russia….

“A general conclusion that can be drawn from the poll’s results suggests that Russians express the least enthusiasm for democratic values, while the most acceptance is expressed by those in the former East Germany, closely followed by the Poles and Czechs…. ”

For the full release from the Pew Research Center, Nov. 2, click here.

“If prosperity is regarded as the reward of virtue, it will be regarded as the symptom of virtue.”

– G. K. Chesterton (English journalist and author, 1874-1936)