Ethics: Sticky Issues in Gumshoe Journalism

When is it right to use new high-tech spying devices?

A TV camera with a pinhole-size lens concealed in an otherwise ordinary black lunch box, a microphone attached to the bottom of a wristwatch, a night-scope capable of recording television pictures in the dark and a high-resolution color camera so small that it can be hidden in the hollowed end of a racquetball racquet. The supply requisition for an FBI sting? No, all of the above are the latest wares available to today's investigative journalists. These items not only have made it possible for reporters to do things they never could have done before but have also forced them to deal...

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