Media Literacy Education: Corporate Corruption

Recently I have had several experiences that have dealt with dishonesty, lack of integrity, and basic corruption in the work place. This last summer I had the opportunity to work with The Color Run. Inside of that company there is a lot of room for "taking care of you and your own." We had an employee who was cheating others out of money and work, and instead took care of his guys. Fortunately he was found out, and demoted to another position. He wasn't doing horrible things, but what it did do was open my eyes. I started paying closer attention to corruption in the workplace, and I started asking questions. I found some things out that were extremely insightful, disappointing, and even terrifying. I have had some close encounters with corrupt corporate big wigs as a result, and had to fly under the radar in some of the situations pretending to know less than I do to protect those it could affect. After noticing so much corruption around me, even in places I would least expect it, I had to ask the question, "has it always been like this?" I found an article from the New York Times that addresses this question.

"Have corporations lost whatever ethical compass they once had? Or does it just look that way because we are paying more attention than we used to?"

"Last year, the economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson from the University of Pennsylvania published a study suggesting that trust in government and business falls when unemployment rises. “Much of the recent decline in confidence — particularly in the financial sector — may simply be a standard response to a cyclical downturn,” they wrote."

Corruption has always, and always will exist. It comes with the imperfection of human beings. However I believe that it's our job and responsibility to address it and restore integrity in the work place. Integrity is something that was once greatly valued, and a man's word was his bond. I feel like we have lost that, and that is a terrible loss. In the place of honesty and trust we have fraud and skepticism. Fortunately there are still companies out there that don't tolerate such behavior and rid themselves of people who would take advantage of the system. We need to use these companies and people as examples of how the rest should be, and expose the corrupt for who and what they are.

The most difficult part of all this is finding the guilty. "As Warren Buffett famously said, 'You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.'

Company executives are paid to maximize profits, not to behave ethically." In a world of capitalism where the corrupt go to great lengths to cover their tracks how do we find them. It's like a game of cat and mouse. Do we turn to a night time vigilante who takes fighting crime into his own hands? I believe that there is always someone who knows, and it just takes someone willing to speak up. It's only about a million times easier said than done, but if integrity makes a comeback and is prized as greatly as it once was this country will also make a comeback.