These questions need not become issues about journalistic ethics if the MSM debate focuses on issues of judgement and character. For instance, does the Palin nomination represent good judgment by McCain with respect to the qualifications of the VP candidate and his vetting process? Does the Pain nomination represent a slap in the face to pro-choice Clinton supporters considering the fact that Palin is pro-life. Is the Palin nomination a cynical and nihilistic ploy to sucker the women’s vote in the same manner that the Clarence Thomas appointment was a slap in the face to black Americans? What does the Pain nomination say about McCain’s judgement if the VP were to become president notwithstanding McCain’s age and health history? These are valid campaign questions without resorting to low-road politics.

–Does the public have a right to know whether Sarah Palin’s (or any candidate’s) daughter is pregnant or not?

That Palin’s daughter is pregnant is public knowledge. That it has been made such officially is just a step toward the inevitable and I think there is no ethical issue in the public knowledge.

That the event is politicized is inevitable I think, though, I think for either party to talk about the situation in concrete specifics is inappropriate. Teen pregnancy is a fact in America. Both sides have very different stances on how to approach that issue and that debate is one worth engaging. The facts of Palin’s family life brings that to the fore, but that is where it should stop. In the same way that hurricane Gustav brings to the fore the realities of proper federal response in times of crisis, neither candidate should then politicize the disaster itself.

–Should the private lives of family members of presidential and vice-presidential candidates be off-limits?

To be honest, yes. These are people who are volunteering their lives to the most prominent of public service. American’s have the right to know all skeletons that might even remotely effect one’s ability to perform their duties in office.

–How aggressively should the mainstream media pursue allegations and rumors in the blogosphere and tabloid media?

I think the media outlets have an obligation to consider as valid any hair-brained scheme hatched on the internet. That they all race to break news is abhorrent. Publishing any allegation that might injure a public figures ability to serve just to be the first to have it in print in case it is right is detrimental. This is one case in which the saying “it is easier to ask forgiveness, than permission” does not apply. Forgiveness is almost impossibly got once a bogus story is hinted at through the whisper campaigns.

–Should journalists have reported the Palin pregnancy story before the McCain campaign’s announcement?

Sure. The McCain camp doesn’t really have the right to control spin on the facts. It is their obligation to break the story as soon as they know of it. Any hesitation could be a sign that they are trying to hide facts from the general public. A news organization is just doing their job in putting into the public sphere. Granted this doesn’t make us feel warm and tingly all over, but that’s how things work and McCain’s people should know that by now.

Yes, the public has the right to know if the GOP’s Vice Presidential Nominee’s daughter is pregnant & unmarried. This is particularly important when those facts show acandidate as a hypocrite [as it does in this case].

No, the private lives of a candidates minor children should not be off limits because this surely reveals something about the candidate.

The mainstream media should pursue blogoshere rumors with vigor because the public should know the truth of such matters (these truths reveal the candidate in a light that is not being manipulated by the campaigns).

The media should have reported as soon as they had the facts backed by credible sources– that is the media resposnibility and their role!

First, the hypocrisy of this matter desreves attention. Ms. Palin believes that abstinence before marriage and she is against sex education in the high schools. It is exactly because of parents like Ms. Palin that we need sex education in the high schools (i.e. Ms. Palin failed as a parent to get across to her teenage daughter that although abstinence before marriage is the way to go, if she went against her parents’ teachings, then this is how you use birth control. Second, John McCain has opposed federal funding for teen pregnancy programs. Not all such teenagers are wealthy. Also, if Ms. Palin was truly consistent in her values, she would persuade her daughter to put the baby up for adoption to a loving, more stable, 2 parent household.

Palin’s teenage daughter’s preganancy is open debate as is Palin’s personal life in every aspect. We would not accept a male VP nominee if we knew that he was ignoring the needs of his family. Politicians’s especially the Presidential Office & Congressman’s personal lives have always been a source of public opinion and interest. Palin’s own family life is reflection of how she can perform as VP. If as it seems here, Palin’s personal-family life is in shambles, her down syndrome son left in buses or with nannies as she trots on a campaign, her teenage daughter having unprotected sex & getting prgnant, her husband drunk & driving, her sister’s messy divorce & her allege involvement. Her family issues are legitimate questions, anyone who is going to run the USA needs to have solid-family base in order to efficiently do her job. Its cruciual for the public to know that the Pres. & VP family is strong, stable and unconditionally supports a job that shall be (and should be) all consumming of his/her time. The family unit needs to be stable enough to allow the VP all of the time that the VP office requires. We all know people whose careers/jobs have taken a toll due to family crisis or issues. The VP is not just a job. It is a 24/7 calling, thus, its important for Palin and all of the other canidates to be judged as to how good a father, mother, husband, wife they are, because if they cannot do that minimum, then we will be left with a VP who cannot perform her duties b/c of some family issue. This teenage pregancy may have made Palin “more real” for some folks. But I just care that VP and Pres. will be able to fulfill their calling, not be worried about a sick child or their daughter who will probably be divorcing by next year. We American have to deal with these things all of the time, I want and expect the Pres. & VP commmitted to their positions and expect them to be more of role model for the rest of us. I am sure if XX country or XX terrorist attacks us they will not wait around b/c Palin is flying to Alaska to handle her daughter’s divorce.. Private lives are open for discussion and reflect how the candidates will perform.

One questions 1 and 2. I think the public does have a right, albeit limited, to know about the private lives of the candidates and their families. Like it or not, they are now public figures and all public figures should expect some prying into their private affairs.
Do these questions have an impact on the candidacy? It depends and in this case I believe it does. You have a candidate who is in favor of “abstinence only” sex education… She should be asked about that opinion in light of her 17 year old daughter’s situation and whether she believes, now, that abstinence education is appropriate as “stand alone” sex eduation. The other issue is that may on the extreme right of the Republican party have supported her daughter’s pregnancy in a way that seems to approve of teenage pregnancy. From the perspective of a vice-presidential candidate, Palin should be able to discuss both of these issues specifically as they relate to her daughter. Is “abstinence alone” an effective strategy for sex education? Is teenage pregnancy a problem in this country and what, if anything, should be done about it.
So her daughter’s pregnancy itself is a private matter, but the issues it raises are not. As a public figure and vice presidential candidate, she should address the questions.

agree

Of course it’s our business. As long as politicians try to legislate morality, we are not only given the right, but the responsibility to discuss their morals and the effects of their belief structure.

Family details are not off limits as fas as “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones”. Hypocrites who try to impose their “family values” on others should be exposed.

Does the public have a right to know whether Sarah Palin’s (or any candidate’s) daughter is pregnant or not?
Generally, the public does not have a RIGHT to know the marital or reproductive status of a candidate’s daughter. The reason Sarah Palin’s daughter is in the news is because her mother is a social conservative who claims abstinence only sex education works and parents just need to focus on teaching their kids “good Christian values” to prevent things like teen pregnancy. Yet, even Bristol’s family can’t see this as a positive development- the Palin statement acknowledge that this would be a difficult time for her daughter.
–Should the private lives of family members of presidential and vice-presidential candidates be off-limits?
The private lives of all candidate’s underage children should be off-limits. Children are not in a position to defend themselves or to define their public image in the same way that their parents are. However, adult children or children who choose to become part of campaign events through speeches, etc. do become part of the public discussion.
–How aggressively should the mainstream media pursue allegations and rumors in the blogosphere and tabloid media?
The MSM does not pursue ALL allegations and rumors in the blogosphere and tabloid media with the same zeal and desire to discover the truth. The biggest difference is that the blogosphere is willing to show its partisanship/interests in getting a story exposed while the MSM is not.
–Should journalists have reported the Palin pregnancy story before the McCain campaign’s announcement?
If journalists knew about and sat on the Palin pregnancy story before Friday (and/or after Pawlenty and Romney had announced they were not the VP), they should have reported it. Journalists often, and sometimes justly, speak with pride of their role in a robust democracy. But, if the fourth estate keeps failing in its role as the everyday man’s eyes and ears to news and instead becomes a parrot of various press releases then the MSM is truly no different than the most liberal or conservative of bloggers who only report the news as they believe it.

The MSM did not break the Bristol Palin pregnancy story, the McCain campaign released this story.

In what it called a defensive move to blog rumors, Sarah Palin announced her unmarried 17 year old daughter’s pregnancy and then asked for privacy.

If McCain had been informed of Bristol’s pregnancy, as he insists he was, then what ethical calculation did he and Sarah Palin perform before putting her daughter’s dignity and privacy at risk?

Now ask yourself…you are Sarah Palin and John McCain asks if there is anything he needs to know about you that may come out in the campaign.
So you tell McCain, “Well my 17 year old unmarried daughter is 5 months pregnant”.
Do you suppose that she and McCain said, “Well, she’s almost old enough to vote, she can take the heat, Game On!”
What parent would knowingly make their child the subject of this avalanche of publicity?