In the cut throat world of journalism, reporters will often go to extreme lengths to break a story and receive the glory associated with this. For this reason, it is not surprising that often ethics don’t really go hand in hand with breaking the stories.

But what is even ethical? It’s a blurry line. It’s complicated. It changes. Society changes. People change. It’s all about judgement.

One area that’s currently being pushed by the television networks is the drug confidentiality code of the AFL. I have now seen and read countless debates in various media about this issue.

Channel 7 has recently been in a little bit of strife for its naming of an AFL player that Brisbane Lions player Jason Akermanis had suspected of taking a banned drug.

You’d think that perhaps after the furore this created that they would maybe just hold off a bit next time and try to respect the AFL’s code. As debateable as the effectiveness of the AFL’s drugs code is, it is still slander to make allegations that could ruin players’ reputations.

So it’s interesting to note that the police have become involved in the recent 7 exclusive about a Melbourne based AFL club’s alleged drug use. Police today have raided the network’s Docklands office and seized medical documents relating to this story as part of investigations that this information may have been stolen.

Such breaking news journalism can produce substantial rewards but of course it can also be very risky business.

It’ll be interesting to see how this one develops.