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Sam is a part-time doctoral candidate in media studies. To pay her university fees, Sam served a one-year internship with a newspaper in 2019.
Sam is a part-time doctoral candidate in media studies. To pay her university fees, Sam served a one-year internship with a newspaper in 2019. More recently, she has been working as a news editor at TV Numero Uno (TVNU). She has just discovered that a journalist at the newspaper, Rondo, has become the host of "Rondo all around the Mondo", a show sponsored by the Sobriety League. Sam remembers Rondo well, nicknamed "Rondo the Scheming Journo" back then. During her internship, Sam was friendly with Cynthia, who was working as a junior IT specialist at the newspaper. Cynthia told Sam that she had had issues with Rondo's ethical standards as Rondo liberally used artificial intelligence software to develop stories. She also mentioned to Sam that she and three other IT colleagues had made a complaint to the Human Resources (HR) Department at the newspaper regarding Rondo's conduct, "including his heavy drinking on the job". A few months later, Sam met Cynthia and asked if the complaints had been resolved. Cynthia told Sam: "Sorry, can't discuss it but we were all paid to make it go away. Can't trust HR". Cynthia was on her way to see a doctor to ask for a medical certificate for leave from work due to stress. After her appointment, she texted Sam, cryptically indicating that "one day the League will know who he really is". In fact, in all four cases, the employees involved had entered into confidential settlements which involved most of the complainants leaving their jobs. Sam is also aware that the settled cases were regarded by many as the tip of the iceberg. Sam mentions this situation to an HR manager at TVNU who tells her: "That's all in the past and most of it was just complaints by people who resented Rondo's celebrity and unique journalistic style". Sam says nothing more about the situation until one day, she is having an after-work drink with Wendy, who tells Sam that she had to comfort another staff member who said that she had been distressed by Rondo forcing her to invent stories and threatening her if she were to "ever disclose his methods and alcohol issues". Sam believes she should act. With Wendy, she approaches their union representative, Morgan, a journalist, who was vaguely aware of Rondo's history after he received a medical file by email from "a friendly source named C", detailing Rondo's health history. With the details provided by Sam and the example described by Wendy, Morgan prepares an article for the magazine "Week", entitled: "Is an unethical scheming journo on the loose and on the bottle?" While the story recounts the information from Sam and Wendy, it does not name Rondo, but it is likely that many readers will have no trouble guessing who is meant, especially the members of the Sobriety League. The story also mentions that the "scheming journo" has had to seek treatment for alcoholism at least twice before. Before the magazine is published, Rondo discovers the story. He wishes to prevent publication, claiming that it constitutes a breach of confidence and tarnishes his public image. Discuss the issues, describe the relevant law, analyse the issues and offer a conclusion.
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