Absence of Malice follows Miami journalist Megan Carter as she chronicles the story of a suspected murderer, Michael Gallagher. After a federal prosecutor leaves Gallagher's file on her desk (intentionally), Carter is compelled to report the story that Gallagher is being investigated for murder. Gallagher is shocked when the story is published and goes to the office of his accuser to attempt to make her reveal her source. When she refuses, he is forced to devise an alternate method of clearing his name. He manipulates both Carter, by getting emotionally involved with her, and the District Attorney, by bribing him to call off the investigation. Carter continues to dig into the case, so far that she humiliates a woman into committing suicide. The climax of the film sees all of the players in the court house where they discover Gallagher has manipulated them all.
This film covers a number of issues involving the ethics of journalism. First, Carter should not have looked at the file left on her desk, even if it was left there intentionally. The information she would have obtained there was not given freely and should not have been published. Second, Carter was wrong to publish the story on Gallagher without even consulting him directly. She made no prior attempt to contact him or bear witness to his character before publishing. Third, Teresa's story should not have been published against her wishes. The fact that Carter went against what Teresa asked caused her to commit suicide. Fourth, a reporter cannot become so obsessed with a story that they publish things that are not news. Several times, Carter published without the whole story. Finally, Carter never should have gotten involved with Gallagher. It is simply not professional to become emotionally involved with a source and the subject of your investigative journalism.
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