Secret Information is something we come across on a daily basis. The question at hand is always, "do I reveal it, or not? I think that for our purposes and in today's context, All i need to pull up is this passage:
"Telling the 'truth' therefore is not solely a matter of moral character; it is also a matter of correct appreciation of real situations and of serious reflection upon them...Telling the truth, therefore, is something which must be learnt." (Bok 1978, 302-303)
What is Sissela Bok talking about here? Truth is something learned? Yet we all know that truth is something that we are all fixed to know - that truth is the right thing to do, and telling the truth is simply pointing out the facts.
Wrong.
Truth is something much more convoluted and more dynamic today than it was back in the days when we pushed our way in horse-and-carriage. Secret information is secret for a reason: it has the potential to hurt and/or harm. depending on several factors. Take, for instance, this personal example:
An employee at a small retail company begins engaging in a serious relationship with one of his fellow employees. Now both employees keep this fact to themselves, as they know that this has the potential of separation and termination, as stated in the company code of conduct. Upon promotion, the gentleman approaches his manager and tells her that he is in a serious relationship and he did not want to jeopardize his job or his significant others' employment. The manager decides to keep it secret, as does the whole store - She believes that both employees understand that they have obligations to their job that come before their personal obligations, and that they would act appropriately in the workplace. Also, she has had this situation happen before, and upon reflection she has only had good experiences with employees that share a relationship in the workplace.
Months later, a separate manager who discovers that these two employees are engaging in a relationship, who is approached with the same situation, decides to blow the whistle on not only the two employees that she is working with (as they are not complying with company policy and placing personal obligations before job obligations), but also call out the previous manager on the relationship that is currently in process at her store.
So what makes the secrets good secrets? What makes them wrongful? Honestly the situation isn't as clear-cut as one would think anymore. As Bok mentioned in the quote above, a situation like this requires not just moral character, but appreciation of real situations and serious reflection. As with all situations we encounter, it's not as simple as just going "by the book." Sometimes, that could lead to a very negative response. Instead, in the above example, the manager above used her prior knowledge of similar situations, as well as her own knowledge of the two employees that were in question and decided that this was something worth keeping a secret - good could be had if no one blew the whistle on this.
The second manager, on the other hand, needed to blow the whistle. While both employees could be viewed as good workers, they were definitely not benefiting in the workplace, and instead other priorities had taken place instead of work priorities.
How does this relate to media? Surely, a relationship in the workplace doesn't completely transmit to a situation government information being leaked and exposing national secrets. This does expose a way of dealing with a secret. According to Bok, it's as simple of using your prior knowledge and making a judgement call. Bok's criteria for discerning the right ethical choice seems fairly logical - Think about the possible ramifications for yourself, then for the opposing party, and finally about everyone that hypothetically could be involved.
So could I be able to get around this whole secrets thing?
Absolutely not.
This is definitely something that you cannot avoid (unless you decided to live in a hole...or equally as isolated - under a rock). So what can we do to prepare ourselves for these secrets that we are inevitably come in contact with, and what are we supposed to get from them?
I do believe that these secrets that we encounter and our own reactions to them and the reactions of others are necessary to what Bok states above, that we are learning the truth. The truth is something that has different sides to it and different timings that are integral to how it reacts in the public view. The best part about it is that it will never necessarily be wrong to let the truth out - just a different reaction can and will be expected.
Just remember to state the truth at some point.
"Telling the 'truth' therefore is not solely a matter of moral character; it is also a matter of correct appreciation of real situations and of serious reflection upon them...Telling the truth, therefore, is something which must be learnt." (Bok 1978, 302-303)
What is Sissela Bok talking about here? Truth is something learned? Yet we all know that truth is something that we are all fixed to know - that truth is the right thing to do, and telling the truth is simply pointing out the facts.
Wrong.
Truth is something much more convoluted and more dynamic today than it was back in the days when we pushed our way in horse-and-carriage. Secret information is secret for a reason: it has the potential to hurt and/or harm. depending on several factors. Take, for instance, this personal example:
An employee at a small retail company begins engaging in a serious relationship with one of his fellow employees. Now both employees keep this fact to themselves, as they know that this has the potential of separation and termination, as stated in the company code of conduct. Upon promotion, the gentleman approaches his manager and tells her that he is in a serious relationship and he did not want to jeopardize his job or his significant others' employment. The manager decides to keep it secret, as does the whole store - She believes that both employees understand that they have obligations to their job that come before their personal obligations, and that they would act appropriately in the workplace. Also, she has had this situation happen before, and upon reflection she has only had good experiences with employees that share a relationship in the workplace.
Months later, a separate manager who discovers that these two employees are engaging in a relationship, who is approached with the same situation, decides to blow the whistle on not only the two employees that she is working with (as they are not complying with company policy and placing personal obligations before job obligations), but also call out the previous manager on the relationship that is currently in process at her store.
So what makes the secrets good secrets? What makes them wrongful? Honestly the situation isn't as clear-cut as one would think anymore. As Bok mentioned in the quote above, a situation like this requires not just moral character, but appreciation of real situations and serious reflection. As with all situations we encounter, it's not as simple as just going "by the book." Sometimes, that could lead to a very negative response. Instead, in the above example, the manager above used her prior knowledge of similar situations, as well as her own knowledge of the two employees that were in question and decided that this was something worth keeping a secret - good could be had if no one blew the whistle on this.
The second manager, on the other hand, needed to blow the whistle. While both employees could be viewed as good workers, they were definitely not benefiting in the workplace, and instead other priorities had taken place instead of work priorities.
How does this relate to media? Surely, a relationship in the workplace doesn't completely transmit to a situation government information being leaked and exposing national secrets. This does expose a way of dealing with a secret. According to Bok, it's as simple of using your prior knowledge and making a judgement call. Bok's criteria for discerning the right ethical choice seems fairly logical - Think about the possible ramifications for yourself, then for the opposing party, and finally about everyone that hypothetically could be involved.
So could I be able to get around this whole secrets thing?
Absolutely not.
This is definitely something that you cannot avoid (unless you decided to live in a hole...or equally as isolated - under a rock). So what can we do to prepare ourselves for these secrets that we are inevitably come in contact with, and what are we supposed to get from them?
I do believe that these secrets that we encounter and our own reactions to them and the reactions of others are necessary to what Bok states above, that we are learning the truth. The truth is something that has different sides to it and different timings that are integral to how it reacts in the public view. The best part about it is that it will never necessarily be wrong to let the truth out - just a different reaction can and will be expected.
Just remember to state the truth at some point.
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