Hart, you remember, was suspected having female friends who were not his wife and challenged reporters to trail him.
They did, and when confronting Hart, one asked the question, “Have you ever committed adultery?”
I told students about the outrage at the time over the question, not the answer. That has certainly changed.
But we discussed the circumstances when such a question is appropriate. I explained that reporters are sometimes like lawyers — we already know the answer to many questions we are asking. The idea is to get the information on the record and in the person’s own words.
And if a reporter asks a “nuclear question” like that, he darned well better know the answer and have some kind of proof to back it up. If you’re wrong, you’ve damaged that person’s reputation just by asking the question.
Sometimes it’s OK for reporters to fishing, but not in those waters.
Dave Murray is an adjunct instructor at Cornerstone University. He is an education writer at The Grand Rapids Press and has more than 20 years of experience.
