IS STING OPERATION ETHICAL?

Sting operation continues to be in cult. More and more media houses are deploying this technique to catch the culprits. Many new technologies have been invented in order to complete the process. One of the most used techniques could be that of a pen. Nowadays pen with camera on top of the cap is high on sale. A person executing sting operation uses this tool in order to hook the suspect. But how is sting operation conducted in the first place?
A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.
Sun-tzu
In order to execute sting operation one needs to find a suspect. Then the person carrying out the act needs to portray that he/she is in the criminal’s party. Once the trust is gained, information is taken out of the suspect. An example could be of an underage child pretending to demand drugs from a drug dealer. This is a way through which suspects are brought to light.
Usually a public figure who functions under public gaze are seen as vulnerable. Most of the times the media houses target them as a suspect for their news story, as they are usually the people about whom the audience would like to know. Tehelka is one media house that captured popularity through sensationalism by these sting operations. Yellow journalism always prove to raise the TRP of a news channel.
Sting operations have become a part of popular culture. It has stretched its tentacles inside the virtual gaming zone as well. Suspects are caught through the help of net and false identity.
Nowadays Youtube and other websites are flooded with stories of sting operations. Sometimes a media clip is recorded as an evidence posing the suspect to be the culprit. In a way this helps the masses to know more about the people around them. A sting operation prevents the audience from being cheated repeatedly as it exposes the criminals.
But is it ethical to intrude in the privacy of the suspects?
What if the suspects prove to be innocents? Is it legal to videograph a person without his/her permission?
There are certain guidelines that an individual must keep in mind while executing the operation. One should always stay within the confined limits of the law while taking out information from the suspect. A sting operation must have authenticity. A lot of questions are raised once the clip is out. The main task is to prove the clip authentic.
According to constitution of India, every citizen has the Right to Privacy.
Article 21
Sometimes in order to gain TRP, the clip is shown in a manipulative way that confuses the audience. This is against the ethics of journalism. In today’s society it is hard to make a difference between a sting operation that are politically motivated and the ones that are actually made out of concern and to make the audience aware. One should not always believe what is in front of their eyes, sometimes there is a deeper truth that is behind the manipulative screen.

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