ETHICS IN AMERICA: UNDER ORDERS, UNDER FIRE {PART 1 OF 2} {MEDIA AND SOCIETY} (TV)

Summary

One in this series of programs hosted by Fred W. Friendly and the Columbia University graduate school of journalism, featuring panel discussions based on hypothetical, ethical questions. In this episode, Harvard law Professor Charles Ogletree moderates a panel discussion with military, religious, and journalism professionals. Ogeltree begins with the hypothetical scenario of a young man who joins the military, proceeds through the training, and encounters a fatal foreign battle. Major Robert C. Stuart, USMC, and Lt. Frederick Downs, Jr., U.S. Army, describe the life of a new recruit, including the psychological process of learning absolute obedience to U.S. military authority. Col. Timothy Tatum, chaplain at U.S. Army War College, and the Reverend J. Bryan Hehir, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, comment on the balance a soldier must maintain between military and moral duty. Ogletree then offers a scenario to Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam, and ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, describing an attack on U.S. troops who are stationed in the mythical country "Cosan." Westmoreland and Jennings discuss the immediate responses to such an attack on the part of the Cosan-based U.S. troops and the media. CBS correspondent Mike Wallace, Vice Admiral James E. Service, USN, and Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) comment on the relationship between the military and journalists during wartime.

Ogletree asks Lt. Downs, Capt. Brian Jenkins, U.S. Army, and Major Stuart to describe their responses to an order to send their platoons to re-capture a hill taken over by the enemy Cosanese. A debate ensues regarding the tension between proper military ethics and the real pressures of battle, and Col. George M. Connell, USMC, describes the "gray area" created by that tension. Chaplain Tatum, and Lt. General Brent Scowcroft outline the duties of a military priest, including comforting soldiers. Next, Ogletree explains that the platoon has been sent on an impossible mission as a decoy in a much larger military strategy. Lt. Downs and Gen. Edward C. Meyer, Chief of Staff AUS, account for the ethics of the officers who plan the decoy mission and, for the "greater good," withhold their knowledge from the soldiers who are being sacrificed. Downs and Gen. David C. Jones, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, discuss a scenario in which a commanding officer kills a soldier for refusing to carry out this suicide mission. Wallace and Jennings discuss the repercussions of such a war-time murder if it were caught on videotape by a U.S. journalist. The program ends with a hypothetical situation in which the platoon is searching a Cosanese village for guerrilla soldiers. Friendly makes closing remarks and provides a preview of Part Two of "Under Order, Under Fire."

(This is one of several television series developed from Columbia University's taped seminars, "Media and Society.")

Cataloging of the program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasing, 1998.

Details

NETWORK: PBS
DATE: December 2, 1989 2:30 PM
RUNNING TIME: 0:57:45
COLOR/B&W: Color
CATALOG ID: T:54806
GENRE: Talk/Interviews
SUBJECT HEADING: U S - Officials - Talk/Interviews
SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1989
COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

Cynthia McFadden … Executive Producer
Betsy Miller … Producer
Martha Elliott … Producer
Jay Ward Brown … Associate Producer
Jeffrey Crawford Brown … Associate Producer
Ellin Baumel … Associate Producer
Sally Hechinger … Associate Producer
David Deutsch … Director
Abigail Pogrebin … Research Associate
Fred W. Friendly … Host
Charles Ogletree … Moderator
George M. Connell … Guest
Frederick Downs … Guest
Newt Gingrich … Guest
Bryan J. Hehir … Guest
Brian Jenkins … Guest
Peter Jennings … Guest
David C. Jones … Guest
Edward C. Meyer … Guest
Brent Scowcroft … Guest
James E. Service … Guest
Robert C. Stuart … Guest
Timothy Tatum … Guest
Mike Wallace … Guest
William C. Westmoreland … Guest