Here’s a question. What do you do when it turns out that the person you’re reporting on turns out to be unstable? And what you thought was going to be a mildly skeptical investigation is now potentially a hit piece on a mentally ill person?
I am a terrible arbiter of ethics in journalism, partly because I always side with the subject. I don’t believe there is ever a professional excuse for ruining someone’s life. (There may be other reasons to do so, but not trade-related ones.)
In this case, as it happens, there are no reasons at all. The subject is a person who is famous and wrong but harmless in both capacities. His faults are natural consequences of his merits. I care about him a little bit, even if he is annoying as fuck.
I called my editor to ask but hung up when I realized there was literally no one on earth less incentivized to give me good advice. Maybe I’ll ask my dad instead.
