When is a Hero Not a Hero

The ethical dilemma discussed in this article revolves around a fire fighter named Norman Creger. Word spread that the fire fighter had died in the line of duty when a wall had collapsed on top of him. He was praised in the community and there were several processions that celebrated this veteran. Then 45 days later, a news report arises which states that the fire fighter was intoxicated as he was working. It revealed that he had been drinking before hand which could have resulted in his death. Creger was declared legally drunk at the scene and witnesses saw that he knocked himself out running into a parking meter when the wall fell on him.

After this news report was brought to the public's attention, mass amounts of controversy surrounded it. Who could blame the community for putting pressure on the news paper for publishing a article like that. A veteran fire fighter had died recently and they have the audacity to report such a thing? It is very tricky when dealing with situations like so. You have a everyday hero who risked his life to help others and to besmirch his name is like diving into a tank full of sharks, you just don't do it. The problem that the community had with this news report was that it was almost like they didn't respect him and belittled the fact that he helped during the fire,

I understand the fact that people would feel upset about the writers who wrote the article in the newspaper but they must also recognize that the article written was not meant to disrespect anyone. A good point that was brought up in the reading "The Fallen Angel" was that the newspaper does not make business making or breaking heroes, but by reporting events that happen. The journalists had no intention of "breaking" Creger, the article was just so unexpected that it made it look that way. They were just reporting information that could have caused the death of this fire fighter.

If I were writing about this situation I might handle the situation a little different. As already said in the reading I would give a warning article saying that there is a city investigation about the cause of Creger's death, as opposed to publishing that his drinking could have been the problem. This a sensitive situation so I would probably choose to publish the story later than 45 days, because there are still people who would be mourning the death of a hero.

Even if the article were to be published at a later date I think it would still catch the eye of criticism. People would still think that the name of a hero was tainted. I believe in situations like the of the fire fighter, would be hard to cover. On one hand you want to praise him for his acts but on the other you want to report the latest news. It's not a matter of slandering someone. It's a matter of getting the news out for people to know what is happening in their community and in the end, this is what we should all learn to understand. The news reports what the information but it won't change the fact that Creger was a hero.