Some people see nothing wrong with writing dishonest articles. A discussion in an online forum recently reminded me of this.
Let me start by clarifying what I mean by dishonest writing. If you’re writing on someone else’s behalf, you can argue for a position which you don’t personally agree with. It’s legitimate if there’s some case for the position and you use accurate facts and valid arguments. You’re helping the customer to present a position in a reasoned way, and there’s nothing wrong with that even if it’s not your position.
It becomes dishonest when your argumentation is dishonest. If you cite sources which you know are unreliable, use arguments which don’t hold up, and present “facts” with no source, you’re serving up counterfeit goods. If the customer is unaware you’re spewing nonsense, you’re cheating the customer. If they do know they’re asking you to deceive, you’re collaborating in cheating the reader. In some cases, it could count as fraud under the law.
The excuses
People offer excuses for this. Let’s look at some of them.
“Nothing is ever black and white.” That’s abdication of judgment. Some claims are flat-out false. If you say, “Well, maybe it’s true, how can I know?” then you’re saying you’re too ignorant to write on the subject. Let’s say you’re asked to write a piece supporting the claim, “Eat lots of ice cream every day! It’s good for you!” It’s true that ice cream contains some valuable nutrients and that eating ice cream would be better than starving. That doesn’t mean the claim has any chance of being true in a normal context. If you pull those points out of context to promote an ice cream-heavy diet, you’re trying to deceive the reader.
“It’s marketing!” Marketing means persuading people to buy something. Deceptive arguments are less excusable, not more, when they’re intended to get people to part with their money.
“Science is always changing.” Science keeps reaching new discoveries, and sometimes it overturns what we thought were solid facts. That doesn’t mean that all of reality is in flux. If it were, science would be useless. If scientists discover some previously unknown health benefit of ice cream that outweighs the effects of fat and sugar, that’s new information. Until they do, speculation that they might find one counts for nothing.
“I’m just being paid to do it for someone else.” This is the world’s most popular excuse for abdicating responsibility. Another form of it is “I was just following orders.” You don’t stop being responsible for your actions because someone else wants you to do them or because you’re getting income from them.
“My name isn’t on it.” That’s the ghostwriter’s variant of the previous excuse. It compounds dishonesty with cowardice.
“I gotta earn a living!” There are honest ways to earn a living. If you get your income by deception, you aren’t earning the money; earning means providing value for value. Besides, your customers are the bottom of the barrel, the ones who just want to cheat people. Do you seriously expect them to treat you fairly? A reputation for honesty is a business asset. Why throw it away?
Dealing with the real world
So far I’ve been discussing the choice as an ideal. In my own work I have the freedom to turn down any proposed article without further consequences. But what if you’re an employee or a long-term contractor for one customer? If they ask you to write something dishonest, what do you do? Doing a search related to the topic, I found a Business Insider article, “What to do when your boss asks you to do something unethical or illegal”, which looks sensible. Important points are to open a discussion and avoid knee-jerk responses. It’s especially important to avoid being a party to anything illegal, such as outright fraud.
You might propose an alternative treatment of the subject and point out it would have more plausibility. For instance, rather than claiming eating lots of ice cream is healthful, you could suggest a piece that points out that ice cream has some positive nutritional qualities and that it’s OK to eat it in moderation. You could remind your boss of the disadvantages of publishing something that people woould jump on as obvious nonsense.
If the boss still insists, what do you do? Perhaps you can still write the piece in a way that avoids outright deception. Then at worst it has a clickbait headline. If your employer persistently wants you to lie, it may be time to look for another job.