Ethics

Sex Scandals in Politics

In the news today there are a lot of examples of big names in politics having serious skeletons in their closets. With events being exposed, such as Bill Clinton's relations with a White House intern, our country has found itself in a state of "moral panic." As explained in the article, The Media's Focus on Politicians' Sexual Behavior Is Misguided written by E. J. Graff and taken from a scholarly database, moral panic happens when citizens find themselves being distracted from any economic disruption by focusing on matters of sexual purity. Ever since the Clinton incident, we have been in a state of panic for at least a decade. The factor that is making this panic worse and perpetuating it is American journalism. These journalists find the need to be covering the wrong stories involving sex and politics. We no longer trust our politicians and listen to their views on certain issues. We want to follow the official who has the least amount of skeletons revealed. So, where should the media draw the line on their coverage? It seems unethical for the media to cover private adult behaviors even if these behaviors seem unsavory. However, the media has a duty to cover any kind of criminal behavior when it has links to abuse of power or reveals any type of official hypocrisy. 

In the case of Jack Ryan, the American media was the reason that he had to drop out of the 2004 United States Senate race. While he was running, he and his wife were going through a divorce. A divorce is something that should be handled privately and should not be disclosed information to the public. In his race, he was sinking in the polls and the local ABC news affiliate was successful in persuading a judge to release his divorce papers. In doing this, they found that his wife, actress Jeri Ryan, had very scandalous reasoning for filing for the divorce. She found it "repulsive when he repeatedly urged her to accompany him to a sex club and do the deed in front of others," (Graff). This is a valid reason for divorce, as Jeri Ryan explained, because of the possibility a person and their partner have incompatible ideas of sexual intimacy. It is clear that this information should simply be domestic and not abused as political information.This type of journalism, because it endorses an idea that personal sexual matters are relevant qualifications for office. All of this distracts people from what certain politicians stand for. In Jack Ryan's case, it is his millions in Goldman Sachs and his desire to cut taxes for his income bracket that people look over because of his shocking divorce. It is clear that people do not recognize him for his success because when you Google his name and bring up the Wikipedia page with his information, this is what you see:

There is nothing in this small overview that mentions, or even hints at, any success that he has had throughout his career. As you scroll down the page, there is a small biography and an even smaller explanation of his political platform. The bulk of this page is about the 2004 Senate race and what happened with his campaign to force him to withdraw. This example makes it clear that his political career was ruined due to a news station's want and need to publicize the reasons for his divorce. 

This type of thing is not uncommon in the news at all. As people become more comfortable with the media and more willing to talk out, politicians are getting branded as cheaters and perverts. In the more recent news, there are people such as John Edwards, Herman Cain, and Anthony Weiner who are involved in these scandals. In the case of John Edwards, it was an extramarital affair in which he fathered a child. This became a problem when people found out that he was using campaign money for personal use that was related to the affair. Herman Cain's scandal happened when he was not even involved in politics. According to an article written by Jonathan Martin from Politico.com, it was in the 1990s when Cain was the head of the National Restaurant Association that two of his female employees complained about inappropriate behavior. His campaign denied all of the accusations regarding the scandal, but he still dropped out of the presidential race. For Anthony Weiner, it was a scandal revolving 100% around the media. As covered by the ABC News Network, a network that is consistantly reliable for valid information, he had sent an inappropriate picture of himself to a college student in April, 2011 via Twitter. At first, he denied that it was him and claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked. This brought up the fact that Weiner was involved in electronic relations with six women over a period of three years. Not long after this scandal surfaced, Anthony Weiner announced his intended resignation from Congress. Sex scandals involving politicians are becoming "normal" in today's news. It is now somewhat of a pattern in the media and it is forcing the resignation of people who could actually make a positive impact in our government. This is something that cannot really be known because the media pushed them to step down.