What if…
What if you were asked to write about something going against your beliefs? What if your client does something you don’t agree with or feel is unethical? Most writers face these types of what if’s and deal with it in different ways.
Would you write something you find is offensive or that others find offensive if the pay is good? What if you didn’t write it, but you contribute to a website or publication that published an article you find offensive? It’s quite the quandary, isn’t it?
The way I see it there are several options:
- Take the gig - After all, you need the money. While you may have issues, your client is happy and that’s all that matters right?
- Turn down the gig - Your client might not be happy, and might even hire someone else who doesn’t questions his wishes.
- Quit - It’s kind of extreme but if the gig and website/publication really go against everything you believe in you really shouldn’t be there.
Fortunately I’ve never found myself in a situation where I was forced to choose between my job and my ethics. I won’t write something I find upsetting or offensive but I won’t quit a gig if the website or publication posts something I don’t agree with. I have been known to write to my clients if they do something I don’t agree with. Not because I want to lose my job or start an argument, but because I’d like them to know how I feel. Whenever this has happened, the client has always been gracious.
What do you do in this situation? Where do you draw the line with your writing?
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on
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 11:28 pm under
It hasn’t come up with writing so much, because I’m pretty picky about writing gigs and long-term relationships; I tend not to enter into them unless I’ve had time for lots o’ research. However, it’s come up a few times in my editing work, with two occasions really standing out in my mind. In both cases, I discontinued relationships immediately. Then again, I’ve been fortunate in that it hasn’t been an economic make-or-break for me.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:46 pmHasn’t come up in freelance, but did come up at a newspaper one time. Was asked to write about how wrong a utility’s budget plan was. I’m on a budget plan. The managing editor who asked me to write article couldn’t keep track of bill as year went on and got hit with a higher than expected bill at year’s end. Heck, I’ve gotten hit with high ones at year-end, but I knew it for months before.
So I wrote an article basically explaining the budget plan, including quotes from utility about how one could keep track of it, change budget payments in mid-year to fend off a large year-end payment, etc.
Managing editor changed article to reflect his ax-grinding views. Utility complained about article inacuracy, sought to get me fired (my name was still on it), but I knew the PR guy fairly well, he went to his bosses and told them I hadn’t written it that way. Complaint went to the publisher. Managing editor was fired.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:52 pmI was doing a large group of articles about competitive fighting. It was all fine until the karate and boxing articles turned into lady’s and men’s sexy wrestling.
I was a little uncomfortable, but I did them anyway. I imagine I got some viruses researching THOSE articles…
January 31st, 2008 at 12:03 amI quit writing for a print publication early in my freelance career because I was assigned an article I felt was rascist. I discussed a different slant with the editor, but we couldn’t come to an agreement.
Even when you need the money, you have to realize that (on the Internet especially) your name will be associated with that article forever and ever.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:06 amHi Deb,
Depends on how offensive the topic is, actually. I am against the craze for plastic surgery purely to look younger, but I’ve written tons of content on it. I probably wouldn’t write anything that’s against my faith. That would be offensive to me.
Otherwise, I haven’t really come across a gig I found offensive enough to turn down.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:13 amI wouldn’t write anything I found politically offensive or which clashed with my personal views about certain subjects, for the very same reasons that Sandy mentions. When I write something, my name is attached to it and therefore my reputation and integrity. On the other hand, living where I do, there are certain topics that I would be careful about discussing anyway, regardless of beliefs - especially if there was a chance they would be read locally. So far, it’s never come up though.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:21 amI had something edited one time because it was considered potentially offensive to one specific group of people. My name isn’t on most of the material I write, so it’s not like I had to look at it and cringe because the editors caved in on something so easily. I told them I thought they were wrong, though, and that this was ridiculous. It was awkward and no one was happy about it, but it was a company I’ve worked for quite a lot and we have a good relationship, so it passed.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:22 amI quit one gig writing celebrity bios because I was asked to write a bio on Scott Peterson (the killer who murdered his pregnant wife Lacy). When I asked why the website wanted a bio on this guy I was told that he was a celebrity.
Couldn’t do it. Someone like him should not be given celebrity status. Quit the steady gig right there and then. I told them I’d finish up what I had been assigned (minus the one) and do two more weeks worth of work if they needed it. They were actually very understanding and even invited me to come back and work for them if I ever wanted to.
That’s the only time something I’ve been asked to write went against my ethics. What’s great about being self employed is that I really do get the final say in what I will and won’t do. I love my job.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:24 amPersonally, I don’t compromise my ethics and beliefs for a paycheck. It’s an interesting question. I had one moment where I “almost” signed up to write at a term paper mill because I needed the money. I never did, though. (And I’m glad I stayed strong and didn’t do it!)
January 31st, 2008 at 12:52 amThis happened to me where I was lead to believe I was doing one thing (ghostwriting chapters for an academic company’s books), but it turned out to be a term paper mill. I quit. I was so upset over the whole thing, but it taught me to really keep an eye on those gigs that are vague. As far as knowingly walking into a situation (be it topics, standards, or whatever), I can’t do that. Like you, though, I don’t leave a situation when other things are posted or published that I don’t agree with.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:04 amI always make sure that when I am getting hired for a long term relationship, I outline what I won’t write about. Sometimes I still get asked to do something against my beliefs, but since the client knew at the outset, it’s never an issue to say “no thank you.” Haven’t lost any clients for this, just a few jobs that I wouldn’t have done anyway.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:34 amPersonally, I enjoy taking the “other side” from time to time. It is a great way of keeping oneself honest, informed and open minded. It also helps during debates if you know both sides of the argument in depth.
The ability to objectively argue a point from both sides is somewhat rare and can provide hours of entertainment.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:37 amMatt brings up an interesting point. Woodrow Wilson quite his debate team because they wanted him to argue a side of something opposite of his beliefs. But that’s what one has to do occasionally in a debate prgram.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:58 amThis happened to me in December. I was told I would be writing one thing, then ended up writing another. I put off quitting for around 8 posts, but couldn’t handle it anymore, especially after the last request.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:13 amThis is a tough and yet an easy issue to address. Easy, because I consider myself a “good” person who perceives any form of communication and art as the potential for positive social influence. Hard, because I also have to pay the rent - and fortunately, one day soon, the mortgage.
That said, I have turned down jobs that were either of a “negative” nature, topic or subject, or because the people involved were not all that wonderful human beings.
That said, too, if a TV network offered me “The Herbie J Pilato Show,” over which I would have complete editorial control - and yet was introduced in an edgy, mean-spirited way (as so much of television is today), I might have to sacrifice my scruples - especially if I were offered $100,000 a week or some such rediculous amount that many writers/producers/actors pull-in.
That said, three - I will add that working in ANY industry, whether it be journalism, Hollywood or Uncle Tony’s Hardware Store, you have to learn to get along with others - and not make waves; to be on good-terms with everyone, as much as possible.
Unfortunately, more times than not that means pretending you like your co-workers or your boss when you really don’t. Or playing “kiss-kiss” in Hollywood - because you don’t want to piss anyone off - because everyone knows everyone - and “everyone” just may be your future boss - or be in a position to hire you one day.
That’s part of the reason why I’m not working on a series or haven’t sold my first script yet: because I find it hard to play that Hollywood game.
But another reason I’m not working in TV, is because I haven’t yet be able to get into the “club.”
Had I known that graduating from Yale or Harvard or even UCLA or USC would have nearly guaranteed my placement as a writer or producer on episodic TV, I would have worked much harder in high school to place myself in one of the aforementioned universities.
Another reason, however, that I’m not working in TV and film is because I’m in Rochester, NY - my hometown - where I have found that it’s more important to “live the scripts” of life - than to write them.
I grew tired of watching wonderful movies about people who succeeded in the big cities of the world and then realized that living small in your hometown offers more contentment.
I thought to myself, “Instead of sitting and watching a movie about that kind of life, why don’t I just LIVE that kind of life ALL the time - instead of vicariously for two hours.”
So, now I write my books ABOUT Hollywood and TV and film (The Bionic Book, Life Story - The Book of Life Goes On, NBC & ME: My Life As A Page In A Book - all published by BearManor Media), and then lunch and socialize with friends and family that I have known my whole life.
Still conntected to LA, NY, etc. - but ever linked in joy to “real life”.
The best of both worlds - without compromising my integrity.
Either way, there’s gotta be a “Herbie J Pilato” in there somewhere….
HJ
That means,
January 31st, 2008 at 3:15 amUnfortunately, most stuff in life doesn’t fit into neat categories. Something is rarely just ‘unethical’. It can be ’slightly unethical’ or ‘very unethical’ or ‘unethical but I understand where they are coming from’ etc.
I will say that I stopped writing for one local magazine many years ago because I was asked to do a ‘bad’ product review. They asked me to pick a product I didn’t like and trash it.
I didn’t agree with that. If I picked something to review and I happened to not like it, that is one thing, but picking something just for the type of review seemed unethical to me at the time.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:37 amLast year I was hired as a content editor for an online entertainment portal in Toronto. They emphasized that they wanted me to contribute original content every day, as my predecessor had done. I got the job and was excited, until I looked deeper into the site and discovered that all the original content had been stolen from sources with whom they did not have a republishing agreement, they removed the author’s names/outlet and replaced it with their own. When I confronted them with that fact, they claimed it was within their own rights, because the content was in the public domain.
That was the last straw. I quit the day after I was hired, dealt with a decent amount of harassment from the employer, but haven’t really regretted it since.
I don’t know if it was the most professional thing to do, but as a writer, I respect the hard work other writers do, and as content editor, I would have been in charge of stealing that. I just couldn’t do it.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:54 amIf you feel that something is wrong yet you do it anyway, you violate your conscience, which is wrong.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:47 amIf it’s freelance, it’s easy to turn down. If it’s part of a full-time job, that can be tricky.
I used to work on some tobacco accounts at a couple of my former full-time jobs. I kept thinking, “Wait a minute. I don’t want people to smoke!”
January 31st, 2008 at 10:44 amI’m the type of person who’s will can never be bent. If I don’t want to do something, I won’t do it, no matter the consequences. However, there are some things which I have to experience for me to consider them unethical.
Just like Matt said, we all need to keep an open mind, but of course, not to the point of disregarding our beliefs or setting our dignity aside.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:01 am*…whose will…
January 31st, 2008 at 11:02 amFor me, it all comes down to the money. I have to pay the bills and my own beliefs are secondary to keeping food on the table and the furnace running.
Yes, I’ve written things I just don’t agree with, but in the end that’s life. During my days as a travel agent, the owner of the company had me constantly typing up her church bulletins and doing the calls looking for donations for church functions though it was no where in the job description. When I finally told her that it wasn’t in my job descrip. she told me to do it anyway since she was the boss or that I could quit. In the end, I did quit, but the lack of pay was crippling in the meantime.
I’ll do what it takes to survive today’s economy.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:27 pmThere are topics and slants I simply WON’T write.
I couldn’t write a peice that is pro-abortion. I don’t object to pro-choice but I am anti-abortion. Does that sound like a contradition?
It means I don’t like the idea of abortion but I do believe a woman has the right to decide if she will bring a baby into the world. I justify abortions with a dose of faith that says, “That short pre-life that baby had was the life lesson of the unborn and an important life lesson for the prospective parents and anyone else affected by the pregnancy.” Still, I don’t want to write in a positive light that might encourage people to have more abortions.
Having just said that, the sentence in quotes there is, I guess, a pro-abortion kind of comment. So, there are topics I don’t THINK I can write about which I eventually discover I could turn into something I can write.
When I’m asked to write about something I question from a moral standpoint, I’ll point out my moral standpoint and ask for time to think it over.
I have no objection to my content appearing alongside content that doesn’t meet my moral standard. So long as my writing isn’t designed to promote that content.
For example, if I wrote an article, “Fourteen Things You Can Do To Increase Your Metabolism” (Great Title Huh?), that listed 14 healthy and natural choices and the editor slammed it right next to an advert for cigarettes I’d probably voice an objection. Yes, cigarettes can increase metabolism but I certainly wouldn’t recommend the cancer sticks. I’d hit the roof if the editor put the ad next to the article AND edited the article to add a 15th point that promoted cigarettes as an option.
I think a huge part of this for me is my reason for writing. I write because I want to spread a positive message to the world. I want to bring light to dark places and I want to entertain and enrich lives. My moral and spiritual beliefs therefore, are important in everything I write. If I wrote for the money (does anyone actually do this? There are easier ways to earn a buck.) then I’d probably not care what I wrote so long as it paid well.
January 31st, 2008 at 7:47 pmLife is lived in shades of gray, not in black-and-white. I think most of us make choices based on our perception of just how unethical an action is and on how highly we value the issue in question.
For example — I’d probably write an article on lawn care that included heavy watering and the use of petrochemical fertilizers, even though I deplore both. I couldn’t write an article advocating cutting down a rain forest to make a coffee plantation. Both articles would have issues of ecology and responsibility for resource consumption, but the amount of ‘wrongness’ involved seems different. Ecology ranks high on my list of issues.
Yes, I have been a ‘whistle-blower’ and gotten fired from a full-time job. It was a horrid experience, but I’d do it again if the circumstances were the same. That’s not really a moral position; I just get physically ill when I’m repeatedly required to do things I know are wrong.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:10 pmI have to admit, I´ve taken on some jobs that weren´t really in my moral realm, but I needed the money. I actually got a bunch of spyware and viruses thanks to research on one set of articles!
If the work was really offensive, I wouldn´t do it, but if I´m just uncomfortable, I´ll write the stuff.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:26 pmI spent years writing for high-profile political candidates — speech writing is a true niche — I’m proud to say I actually wrote for one presidential candidate doing well this week:-) However, i walked away from a very lucrative job for being asked, no told, to do something completely fraudulent in nature. Not illegal, just truly in my eyes, inhuman. That’s why I am a struggling freelancer today. I love it… but I found that $$ didn’t help me sleep at night.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:39 pmSpeaking of morals and writing about things you are morally against… I recently took a job blogging about certain American made motorcycles. I won’t mention any names, but the initials are Harley Davidson.
I was required to bring a positive light to the blog and did, even though deep in my heart I knew it was wrong to try to sucker more people into buying or supporting them.
I (not so) easily highlighted the few good points about the product I could come up with, and refused to discuss the multitude of bad points that I usually use in discussions about this with my brother in law and other friends that ride them.
To this day nobody on that blog knew how much I can’t stand those motorcycles, (not only because of their lack of quality engineering, but their business practice as well).
I think it made me a better writer.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:32 pmHey UR Groovy Deb! Missed You! Yeah, I agree with Dan and others above. Most things fall into a “grey” area where you don’t exactly agree, or disagree…I won’t do anything against my ethics/morals though. I have even considered writing articles/blogs for Christian sites, even though I’m not a Christian. I believe that all religions are universal, so this really doesn’t bother me, but it might bother my client(s) if they found out I wasn’t a Christian. So I would have to tell them the truth up front. Hmm. If they asked? What if they didn’t ask? I think I would feel too guilty. Problem solved.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:43 amRobin Says: I quit one gig writing celebrity bios because I was asked to write a bio on Scott Peterson (the killer who murdered his pregnant wife Lacy). When I asked why the website wanted a bio on this guy I was told that he was a celebrity.
He may be a celebrity but he certainly is no killer. In five years no one has yet come up with a credible motive, any reasonable theory of the crime or with the slightest evidence of guilt. All of the actual evidence supports the conclusion that Laci Peterson was abducted; and was killed by a woman for her baby, a procedure which not only eventually killed the mother but killed the fetus as well. Scott Peterson was 90 miles away during the abduction, and 400 miles away during the murders. He may have bad taste but he’s no murderer.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:21 amYeah, but how do you know that for sure? Are you taking it on faith or what? What evidence are you looking at? Scott Peterson has been portrayed as a sociopath in the media.
February 1st, 2008 at 5:53 amellen says: Yeah, but how do you know that for sure? Are you taking it on faith or what? What evidence are you looking at? Scott Peterson has been portrayed as a sociopath in the media.
Question: “How do you know Scott Peterson is guilty of murder?”
Answer: “Because he is a sociopath.”
Question: “How do you know Scott Peterson is a sociopath?”
Answer: “Because he is guilty of murder.”
This is a logical fallacy - circular causation. I am a very cynical old guy and I require evidence of guilt - not accusation, speculation, illogical assumption or hysteria. I look at the actual evidence, not the nonsense. Here is the actual evidence:
• A visibly pregnant woman vanishes from her home. No signs of a crime can be found - anywhere - ever.
• Her shoes are found abandoned on the side of the street, 170 feet from her house.
• Seven days after she vanishes, her watch is pawned in Modesto.
• Another woman is found with Laci’s Social Security card.
• Some time after that Laci’s earrings are sold at an auction sale in Oakland.
• The California Highway Patrol receives a tip that a pregnant woman is being held captive and is being abused in Tracy (not far from Modesto).
• Her body turns up four months later, found on the shore of San Francisco Bay, a place where many other bodies have been dumped, and not far from Oakland.
• Although she consumed nothing containing caffeine while pregnant, her body contains caffeine. None is found in Conner’s body, leading to the conclusion that she consumed it after Conner was removed from her body.
• Her uterus has been cut open by someone unskilled in medical procedures.
• The fetus and the placenta are both missing.
• Some distance away, the body of her child is also found.
• He shows no signs of prematurity, he is full term and he is not curled up in the fetal position.
• The fetal cord has been crudely cut.
• A piece of twine has been double knotted around his neck, not to harm him but to keep his body wrapped in plastic bags to protect it. One of the bags is found nearby.
• The mother is wearing underwear with a wear pattern which shows she has worn it for the whole period of her abduction - which was 111 days.
• Her clothes are still on her body, something which could not happen unless they were retied after the baby was removed. It also shows she was in the water for a day or two at most.
• Her uterus is two to three weeks post partum, showing that she lived at least that long after the baby was removed from her body.
• Although the body of the mother is simply discarded in the sea, either from the Albany Bulb or more likely from Point Isabel (it has been suggested in the Hoffman channel), the body of the baby is carefully laid on the shore at Point Isabel so it can be found and buried. This is clearly the work of someone who cared for the baby.
What part of this does NOT look like a failed fetus napping, where both mother and child have died?
This case became an IQ test for the US population and the US media. The public did very poorly. The US media did far worse.
February 1st, 2008 at 6:55 amEvidence is a funny thing… Scott Peterson to OJ Simpson. Wow
February 1st, 2008 at 11:59 pmSarah Says: Evidence is a funny thing… Scott Peterson to OJ Simpson. Wow
February 2nd, 2008 at 3:46 amIn the O J Simpson case, the police and the technicians mishandled evidence, lied about it, lied about other matters and were shown to have perjured themselves. No conviction can be obtained under those circumstances. In the Peterson case the same things happened, but he was so hated that truth and oaths sworn before God didn’t matter - revenge had to be exacted, even if it was on the innocent. There was too much for too many to lose to permit a not guilty verdict. Shame on all involved.
Thanks for the education Voice of Sanity. You are right - we are easily manipulated by the media in the US. I wonder what it is like in other countries as far as information dissemnination. I have always thought the UK does a good job. I do think it is weird that the baby’s body was carefully laid on the shore, but I could go on and on about that and Deb’s site isn’t the place. Anyway, hopefully I’m not too late with my comment, and I do appreciate all the info you submitted. E
February 5th, 2008 at 7:42 pmOh, one more thing. I do think we should judge the information ourselves and not rely on “one” great authority. Voice of Sanity was kind enough to disseminate some info, and now, I should responsibly go back and delve into the case. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time at the moment.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:57 pm“… Deb’s site isn’t the place …” I agree. I just wanted to make the point that decisions such as this are best made on actual facts and not public hysteria. It’s a pity to miss an opportunity to be first to speak the truth.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:28 am