An important question of journalistic ethics has been largely ignored in the discussion about the inclusion of the Atlantic editor-in-chief in a secret government chat.

Obviously, the primary responsibility for adding Jeffrey Goldberg to the Signal chat was with the government official who negligently included him. But as soon as Goldberg realized he had been inadvertently and improperly included in the chat, should he have immediately notified the government officials to be removed? Would he have acted differently if he had been inadvertently included in a chat by officials of the prior administration, which he supported, rather than this administration, which he opposes?

I have experienced similar situations on several occasions. As a lawyer, I have sometimes been inadvertently included on an email thread that was intended only for the other side of a case. As soon as I saw my name on the list and realized that it was inadvertent, I notified the other side and destroyed any and all communications from that group, without reading them. That was the ethical thing to do, even though my own client would have secured a tactical advantage if I had remained on the thread and learned the other side’s........

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