JOURNALISM ETHICS & ISSUESCLASS #12 | JRNL 4650 | FALL 2016

• Instructor: Bill Mitchell • bmitch (at) gmail (dot) com• 727-641-9407• 18 October 2016 | Northeastern Univ.

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WHAT WE’LL DO TODAY • The Ethics of Game Journalism Ethics by Tessa

• The Ethics of Reporting Conflict: Syria by Zafirah

• Brief review of Foreman’s Chapter 13: Dealing with Sources of Information

• Discussion with Roy Harris

• Ethical issues in the Presidential Campaign

• Note: Deadline for ethics-angle-on-an-event-you’ll-cover assignment extended to end of day Thursday, Nov. 10

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ETHICS OF CONFLICT REPORTING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-J5McNt3fc

THE ETHICS OF REPORTING CONFLICT: SYRIA

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-J5McNt3fc

QUESTIONS • When the information we receive is colored through intense, emotional and

harrowing experiences from sources that might align themselves to questionable sides, how do we make sense of it and seek its truth? How do we even begin to verify the information?

• How do we stay impartial in the face of inhumanity?

• What rules should news organizations follow when publishing photos of war, especially of children?

• How does social media impact the coverage of war and how we feel about war?

• Is it ethical to visually document death and suffering, knowing that coverage of the war so far has not spurred the international community to act enough?

• By publishing images of suffering, have traditional and new forms of media numbed the public even more to tragedy?

LESSONS FROM MICHAEL KRANISH (NOW OF THE WASHINGTON POST,

PREVIOUSLY BOSTON GLOBE)

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• Early contact with multiple sources

• Enough homework that sources know you’re serious

• Assume nothing about previously published material

• Recognize what requires attribution (esp. opinion) & what might not (stuff that can eventually by proven or disproven by via documents or interested readers)

• Enough time to work effectively with sources

FOREMAN CHAPTER 13: DEALING WITH SOURCES OF INFORMATION

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• Picking your sources

• Questions to ask your sources

• Ground rules to review with sources

PICKING YOUR SOURCES

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• Beyond the usual suspects:

• Do your sources reflect the story’s stakeholders?

• Do they reflect your audience?

• One source leads to another:

• Your sources not only know more than you do about the topic of your coverage…

• They know more such knowledgeable people who you never thought to ask about

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR SOURCES

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• What they know that you need to know

• How they know that

• Their perspectives on the topic you’re addressing (a path to learning their motiviations)

• Nuts & bolts about them. You might not need all this but better to collect now just in case:

• Spelling of their name

• Date of birth

• Any other relevant info, e.g. where they live etc.

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GROUND RULES TO REVIEW WITH SOURCES

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• Anonymity only for limited kinds of info, e.g. not opinion

• If anonymity is granted and what the source provides is published, at least one editor will learn their name

• Be specific about to what lengths you’ll go to protect their identity:

• Are you willing to be jailed for indeterminate periods?

• Is your news org willing to pay indeterminate fines?

• Or should you tell your source that, under some circumstances, you might reveal their identity?

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ROY HARRIS’ PULITZER’S GOLD

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"This book should be required reading for all journalism students."

--WBZ Radio/Boston Host Jordan Rich

CAMPAIGN ISSUES

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ADVANCING THE STORY

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• NYT editor writes an open letter posted to nyt.com Sunday Oct. 9

• NYT runs the letter on page 1 of print edition Tuesday Oct. 11

• Times readers tweet their own experiences to @thisis2016

• Video posted Thurs Oct. 13

ASSIGNMENTS FOR THURSDAY OCT. 20

• Read and perhaps post a comment to post by Ben

• Discussion of your ethics codes (please read one another’s)

• Read Foreman’s Chapter 11: The Business of Producing Journalism

• Ethics in campaign coverage: Send me your examples (optional)

• Note: Deadline for ethics-angle-on-an-event-you’ll-cover assignment extended to end of day Thursday, Nov. 10

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