As freelancers, we are able to decline work that conflicts with our personal ethics. No one can fire us for turning down a job. While there is certainly a cost to us if we don’t take assignments because they offend us (no work = no pay), there should be a line we won’t cross for money. The question for each of us is this: How close to the line will we go?
Hard Ethical Lines
I have some expertise in chemistry and pyrotechnics. I know that I won’t write any ‘kewl bomz’ articles at any price. That’s an easy one. Not only would it be ethically painful, but it would border on illegal. In the same vein, I’m not going to crank out any crank (or crack, or meth…) how-to articles either.
The situation becomes less clear as the subject matter moves away from the blatantly illegal and pushes only against your personal beliefs and opinions. After all, how much of ourselves do we put in our writing and how much of it is just hollow words on a screen?
Medium Lines
Because of my science background, I have strong opinions about alternative medicine, homeopathy, and herbalism. Should I help write an e-book on a subject that I strongly disagree with but do not think will cause any overt harm? In my case, probably not. I don’t think I could hide my true feelings anyhow. But I would consider taking that type of project if the pay-off was attractive enough.
This isn’t just abstract angst. I have an opportunity right now to write for a local animal rescue organization. They hold some pretty strident views about just what is and what isn’t acceptable practice. I understand their reasoning, but I find their methods overall to be hypocritical. In the name of saving animals, they sometimes prevent the very thing they advocate. It may sound as if I am hedging a bit here by leaving out the key details. I am. I might still take the job. Yes, I might bite my tongue and put away my poisoned pen and just hope for the best- maybe.
What would you do? What will you do? Will you write for the other side of the abortion argument? Will you write adult content? What about really heavy-duty sadomasochistic stuff?
Sometimes it’s easy. I won’t steal someone else’s work and I don’t think you would either. But will you rewrite content from one website for a client to post as his own? Would you write for a religious magazine that has a belief system you don’t share? How about politics? Can you write passionately in support of Hillary when McCain has your vote?
Soft Lines
The product sucks. You know it sucks. You wouldn’t buy it if it were the only thing left for sale at Wal-Mart and you had a half-off coupon. Your job is to make the product shine. You will be paid based on website hits and sales. Well my friend, welcome to Madison Avenue.
Or maybe: The fine gentleman who is paying you to “punch up my resume”, used to drive a bus. You write, “Two years as a transportation specialist for the City of Chicago”. There seems to be a certain level of hyperbole that isn’t just expected, but common. We sometimes exaggerate claims for a buck. We assume readers know that this is how the game is played.
So ethical considerations run the gamut. And if you haven’t had that certain twinge yet, the hesitation and the worry- you will. If you have had a crisis of conscience, share it. I’d love to know how you handled it.
This ethical dilemma still causes me to cringe when I admit it, but that’s the point of this, yes?
My first ongoing writing job was for academic papers–you know–term papers. In theory, I objected that term papers could be purchased. In reality, as in buying groceries and putting gas in the car, I realized that if I turned this opportunity to bring some cash into the household down, someone else would take the job and the term papers would get written any way.
I further justified it in my mind that I would be learning about many topics of which I knew little or nothing, so it would also provide a learning and growth opportunity for me as a person and a writer.
Having ethics is laudable, but is directly proportionate to how badly you need income–at least for most things.
It’s a sticky question, and I agree that it’s not just black and white. It’s black, white and gray.
One of the things that stands out for a freelancer is that you don’t have the luxury of letting anyone else make those decisions. At a regular job you can fall back on letting other people make the decisions. Not so much freelancing where you’re the boss.
Dave, that is so true. The buck begins and ends with each freelancer. It is both awe-inspiring and a little frightening at the same time.
My take on this is that I’ll sing and dance in a blue tutu if they’ll pay me to do it. I don’t mind doing projects that are flat-out silly. However, if I’m providing information that will be harmful to other people if acted out, I’m not so cool on it. If the reader is harming themselves by engaging in an activity which is obviously a very bad idea, then it’s just evolution in practice. Kind of like a public service, you know?
For me, it comes down to if the reader is going to self-darwinize or harm someone else. But then again, there’s always that potential for acts of self harm to be acted out on others.
It’s a tough situation.
While I’m not opposed to giving would-be Darwin Award winners the opportunity to earn the award in principle, there’s more to it than just that. I have a five-year old daughter and there are things that I simply wouldn’t want her to have access to. We also have a seventeen-year old in the house and he needs the chance to mature.
The problem with self-Darwinization options is that not only do they rarely end up limited to just one person, but that there’s no way to guarantee that it won’t end up in the hands of someone who’s too young to make that choice.
So I think it’s best to avoid that kind of thing. Period.
As to writing something silly– that’s fine.
Dave, you left something out when it comes to the Darwin awards. The simple human tragedy of it. When people laugh at some odd sequence which led to an actual death, I want to yell Charlton Heston’s line from Soylent Green, “It’s PEOPLE!”