CE #5 (Week 10)

For this week’s Current Event blog post, I chose an article from The New York Times (The NYT). It was founded on September 18, 1851, and it is regarded by many as a highly renowned and respected newspaper publication company. The NYT has won a total of 125 Pulitzer Prizes—a type of award that honors organizations for their distinguished work in journalism—and they have more than any other newspaper company at the present time. The NYT continues to be one of the most circulated newspapers in the United States. The article I read makes a hypothesis about solutions for improving ethics within Silicon Valley companies, through the criticization of Google, Facebook, Tesla, and others. The author highlights a recent incident in which a journalist was reportedly beheaded by Saudi Arabian leaders, and she discusses their connection to companies in Silicon Valley. The article attempts to analyze why there is an ethics problem, and how there is now, more than ever, a need to finally address it (e.g. companies could utilize a chief ethics officer). I found the article to be very critical and effective in persuading the reader to believe there needs to be a sense of urgency for resolution. The author is well-known in her field of work, and she has extensive experience covering the topic. When reading the article, though, I got a sense that there needed to be more sourcing to back her claims. An interview was conducted, but it was limited to a smaller company. The author does use several pieces of information, though, that prove to be vital to the narrative. She also uses several recent examples that help to engage the reader in the issue. My opinion is that she did a good job of being critical of tech companies, but the ethos, pathos, and logos was not fully balanced. There was also a sense that the author could have included more sources and second opinions. Overall, I feel as though the article was effective in evaluating the need for companies to address ethics issues, even though the tone of it seemed to stem a good bit from the emotions of the author.

Article link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/opinion/who-will-teach-silicon-valley-to-be-ethical.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage