The ethics of sting journalism has been written about at length in this space. “The dilemmas of sting journalism” (December 16, 2013), “Means and ends matter” (September 22, 2014) and “Sting journalism is not investigative journalism” (June 19, 2017) were unambiguous articulations about this devious method to secure information. In the present polarised environment, some may use political ideologies to either endorse or repudiate the reliance on sting operations and subterfuge. We believe that it is difficult to independently verify and authenticate the material that sting operations throw up. As a result, we have been traditionally cautious about publishing the findings of sting operations as conclusive proof of wrongdoing.

Source: The Hindu May 27, 2018 18:45 UTC