Publishing an Unflattering Answer
Launch library · evergreen read
A subject's own words, honestly given, sometimes reflect poorly on them once published, and an interviewer faces a genuine ethical question about whether to include such an answer: fairness to the subject weighed against the public value of an honest, complete account. That weighing rarely produces a comfortable answer, though avoiding it entirely is not a genuine option either.
The fairest general approach includes an unflattering answer when it is genuinely representative of the subject's view, rather than an isolated, atypical remark taken out of proportion to the rest of the conversation, and provides sufficient context for a reader to understand it accurately. Context, offered fairly, protects the subject far more than silence ever could.
What should be avoided is selectively highlighting an unflattering moment while omitting the broader context that would help a reader understand it fairly, since that kind of selective presentation misrepresents the subject even while using only their own actual words. Fairness, in the end, depends on context as much as on the words actually chosen and printed.