Critical Thinking #2

You are covering a story for your radio station about possible ground contamination of a nearby playground. Neighbors tell you that their children are getting sick. You need hard evidence to prove the allegations. The nearby factory is suspected of being the cause of the illnesses but they deny it. A worker at the factory says he has the documents to prove that the factory is responsible but he wants $1,000 dollars for those papers. Do you pay him or not? Think the issue through critically and respond with an intelligent well thought out answer.

If put in this position i feel that i would not pay for this information. I feel that in fact with the publics help and the story without the information will raise awareness about the situation which will cause a higher authority to gain interest in the situation. Paying someone for information seems like not only an unsure situation but also morally wrong. In this situation i would first speak to the community of kids and find out they're symptoms and what the parents of the community have to say about it. Then i would approach a representative of the company about the situation and inform them that im writing a story about the situation and ask for they're cooperation.