Apparently, The Daily Beast thinks it’s newsworthy enough to go undercover and find out whether athletes not only have sex with athletes while at the Games, and whether athletes will meet non-athletes, too.

A reporter used social media tools to see who might meet up with him. Most of the respondents are gay, which when reported can be a problem for athletes from nations where being gay is illegal or perceived to be immoral.

The Daily Beast’s editor has apologized and made some changes after the original posting, but many in the journalism world still say it’s unethical.

Slate calls out the work as “sleazy, dangerous, and wildly unethical.” Salon calls it “reporting gone wrong.”

The reporter says he didn’t lie–sort of:

For the record, I didn’t lie to anyone or pretend to be someone I wasn’t—unless you count being on Grindr in the first place—since I’m straight, with a wife and child. I used my own picture (just of my face…) and confessed to being a journalist as soon as anyone asked who I was.

And squirrels don’t look like squirrels, unless you count those fuzzy tails.

Sissela Bok’s classic Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life comes in handy with its three-part model to justify lying:

1. Are there alternative actions to resolve the dilemma without lying?
If no, then move to Question 2:

2. What are the moral reasons for and against the lie?
If reasons for seem to outweigh reasons against, then move to Question 3:

3. As a test of the two steps, what would a public of reasonable people say about the lie.
If the test of publicity passes, then maybe it’s OK to lie.

Discuss.