Dreams of la Mancha

I've been drifting few the last couple of months like a modern-day Don Quixote, tilting at proverbial windmills -- an experience most of us have probably shared.
All I'm missing is my faithful Sancho and, of course, an oblivious Dulcinea.
My windmills happen to be slightly gossamer -- ethical compromise.
We all have beliefs and codes that we at least try to live by.
It's sad to see others violate what we view as morally wrong, for the sake of expediency.
For instance, a newspaper stands by its readers, (this dead metaphor goes out to all my fans in Cornwall) and its reporters and does not allow outside influences (such as politicians) to dictate who covers a story and how it is covered -- that would be unethical.
That knowledge should be ingrained in a reporter's or editor's bones.
We stand by our newspaper.
We stand by our reporter.
We stand by our story.
It would be so easy for editors to give into the requests of special interest groups for the sake of expediency, for the sake of getting the story.
I argue that we should uphold our ethical beliefs and rebuff these requests -- get the story another way -- because (to use another dead metaphor to amuse my Cornwall fans) compromising our ethics is a long and slippery slope.
We don't need to compromise our ethics to get a story.
The easy course of action is not necessarily the right course of action.