Sting Operation by Indian Electronic Media and Journalism Ethics: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

The practice of sting operations by Indian media earned impressive recognition in the beginning and the electronic media became engrossed in the investigative journalism. Sting dominated investigations by electronic media, exposed unethical, immoral and illegal behavior by individuals, businesses and government agencies. This form of investigative journalism employs special methods that raise ethical and legal issues.  The impact these operations had in long run is debatable but they surely broke some sensational stories which grabbed good number of audience at primetime. Despite of many of thundering revelations, unfortunately the sting journalism has been questioned several times it concerns the issues of ethics and professional responsibilities. This paper analyses the sting operations on Utilitarian and Deontology based view of ethics and suggests a set of points to be considered before the journalists decides on conducting the sting operations.