Ethics,  Standards  and  Laws  

  Six  Main  Standards  of  Ethics      Can  you  define  these  in  the  chat  box?  

  Accuracy    Fairness    Attribution    Credit    Taste    Honesty  

  Ethical  Breaches      Type  an  example  of  each  in  the  chat  box!  

  Plagiarism    Fabrication    Bias    Conflict  of  Interest    Invasion  of  Privacy    Payola  and  Gifts    Checkbook  Journalism   Misrepresentation  

  Types  of  Bias    Language  choice    Lack  of  balance    Lack  of  fairness   Missing  information    Unnecessary  Information    Reporter’s  Opinion  

 What  was  the  toughest  part  about  the  Bias  Busters  assignment?  

 Who  did  you  choose?    A.  Jayson  Blair,  “New  York  Times”    B.  Stephen  Glass,  “The  New  Republic”    C.  Janet  Cooke,  “The  Washington  Post”  

 Who  do  you  think  was  the  worst?  

PRE-­‐PUBLICATION  

  Code  of  Ethics    Two-­‐source  rule  

POST-­‐PUBLICATION  

  Ombudsman    Corrections    Letters  to  the  Editor  

CRIMINAL  

  Invasion  of  Privacy    Trespassing    Contempt  

CIVIL  

  Libel    Slander  

 What  are  the  defenses  against  libel  and  slander?  

  Truth    Privilege    Public  Figure    Fair  Comment  and  Criticism    Absence  of  Malice  

  Are  bloggers  subject  to  the  same  rules  of  libel?  

   If  you  link  to  a  blog  entry  that  invades  someone’s  privacy,  are  you  guilty  by  association?  

  What  “self-­‐regulation”  is  available  for  bloggers?  

Protections  of  the  media  from  the  government  

  Sometimes  the  government  tries  to  protect  secrets  the  media  wants  to  report  about  (such  as…?)  

  The  government  may  try  to  use  “prior  restraint”  

 What  is  being  done  to  protect  journalists  and  maintain  their  rights  in  the  U.S.  and  across  the  world?  

  How  are  the  U.S.  and  other  countries  different  in  terms  of  freedom  of  the  press?  

  FOIA  (Freedom  of  Information  Act)    any  citizen  to  request  nonpublic  information  from  the  government  

   Shield  Laws  

  protects  a  reporter  from  being  forced  to  testify  before  state  or  federal  grand  juries  

   Prior  restraint?  

 What  criteria  should  news  organizations  use  in  determining  whether  to  publish  material  that  the  government  says  could  jeopardize  national  security?  

  If  you  were  the  editor  of  a  newspaper  and  one  of  your  reporters  uncovered  a  secret  report  that  the  government  asked  you  not  to  publish,  what  would  be  your  process  for  determining  how  to  proceed?  

 When  has  this  happened  recently  in  real  life?  

  Research  journalists  who  defied  the  law    Judith  Miller  of  The  NY  Times  –  the  Plame  case    Blogger  Josh  Wolf  –  the  street  protest  video   Walter  Pincus  of  The  WaPo  –  the  Wen  Ho  Lee  case  

  Choose  ONE  of  these  people    Paragraph  (min.  6  sent)  of  dilemma  and  why  journalist  was  going  against  the  court  

  Paragraph  (min.  3  sent)  of  what  laws  might  be  involved  and  how  

  Is  Wikipedia  a  reliable  source  to  quote  in  a  story  or  paper?  

  Is  Wikipedia  valuable  for  research  at  all?   What’s  the  best  way  to  use  Wikipedia?  

  Choose  one  of  the  three  dilemmas  presented    Answer  all  the  questions  posed  in  a  single  response  

  Respond  to  TWO  of  your  classmates    Respond  to  someone  who  commented  on  your  post  (or  on  another  person’s  comment)  

A  university  journalism  class  investigates  a  man  who  is  convicted  of  murder  and  is  serving  a  life  sentence.  They  have  a  source  within  the  prosecutor's  office  who  has  given  them  information  proving  that  the  prosecutor  tampered  with  evidence.  The  judge  has  subpoenaed  the  class's  records,  but  the  students  and  teacher  refuse  to  give  up  their  source.  The  judge  is  threatening  to  throw  the  whole  class  in  jail  until  they  comply.      Respond  to  the  following:  Do  you  think  the  class  should  hand  over  the  source  or  should  the  class  protect  the  source,  even  if  it  means  they  all  go  to  jail?  State  your  opinion  and  explain  your  reasons,  citing,  as  they  apply  to  this  case,  the  laws  and  ethical  standards  you  have  learned.  

A  blogger  learns  from  a  government  source  that  the  U.S.  intelligence  community  has  reliable  information  that  another  9/11-­‐type  attack  is  being  planned  by  a  militant  group  in  another  country  with  connections  to  a  known  terrorist  organization.  The  source  gives  the  information  to  the  blogger  because  he  thinks  the  public  has  a  right  to  know  about  the  threat  and  this  blog  is  widely  read.  Government  officials  state  that  they  do  not  possess  enough  specific  information  to  inform  the  public  in  any  meaningful  way.  The  government  wants  to  exercise  prior  restraint  to  keep  the  blogger  from  reporting  the  information  and  also  wants  the  blogger  to  reveal  his  source.      Respond  to  the  following:  Do  you  think  the  blogger  should  be  barred  from  publishing  the  information  or  does  the  public  have  the  right  to  know  the  information?  State  your  opinion  and  explain  your  reasons,  citing,  as  they  apply  to  this  case,  the  laws  and  ethical  standards  you  have  learned.    

A  cameraman  for  a  local  TV  news  station  shoots  video  of  a  snowball  fight  in  a  major  urban  center.    What  started  as  winter  fun  grew  out  of  control  and  turned  into  a  brawl.    An  off-­‐duty  police  officer  witnessed  the  scene,  and  in  order  to  break  up  the  fight,  drew  his  weapon  and  threatened  to  shoot  the  snowball-­‐wielding  teenagers.  The  TV  station  is  subpoenaed,  and  the  courts  want  the  video  with  all  its  outtakes  to  use  as  evidence.  The  TV  station  refuses,  saying  that  it  is  not  an  arm  of  law  enforcement,  that  it  is  not  required  to  supply  information,  and  that  the  request  infringes  on  its  First  Amendment  rights.  

Respond  to  the  following:  Should  the  station  comply  with  the  court  subpoena  and  turn  over  the  video?  State  your  opinion  and  explain  your  reasons,  citing  the  laws  and  ethical  standards  you  have  learned  as  they  apply  to  this  case.  

  Finding  story  ideas    Finding  sources  for  your  stories    Gathering  information    Interviewing      Story  Proposal  Assignment  coming  up  

 Where  can  you  get  ideas  for  stories?   What  are  some  beats  that  interest  you?    Once  you  have  an  idea,  what  do  you  do?   Where  can  you  find  non-­‐human  sources  for  your  stories?  

 Where  can  you  find  human  sources  for  your  stories?  

  Overview  of  your  story  idea    Description  of  story  idea      Why  it’s  a  compelling  subject  for  readers    Who  would  be  interested  in  reading  this  story    10-­‐15  sentences  

  Identify  human  sources    Name,  position,  organization,  connection  to  story    What  information  can  they  provide?    Minimum  three  sources  

  Identify  nonhuman  sources    Title,  location  and  any  other  identifying  information    What  information  can  you  get?    Minimum  two  sources  

A  broadcast  journalist  does  a  story  about  a  doctor  who  claims  his  herbal  tea  cures  cancer  and  patients  say  on-­‐air  they  think  the  guy  is  a  quack.  The  doctor  threatens  to  sue,  charging  which  of  the  following?    A.  Invasion  of  privacy  B.  Slander  C.  Libel  D.  Fraud  

A  celebrity  journalist  is  doing  a  story  about  a  movie  star  who  is  getting  a  facelift.  The  journalist  pretends  to  be  a  messenger  and  sneaks  into  a  private  hospital.  He  then  hides  in  a  supply  closet  next  door  to  the  celebrity’s  room  to  eavesdrop.  She  steals  the  movie  star’s  medical  chart  off  the  hospital  room  door  and  uses  it  to  write  a  story.  What  breach  is  this?    A.  Invasion  of  privacy  B.  Slander  C.  Libel  D.  Fraud    

BREACH  

  A  writer  uses  the  description  of  the  Lincoln  Memorial  from  the  D.C.  website  in  their  story  

  A  reporter  sifts  through  the  mail  of  a  person  running  for  Senator  

  No  one  does  a  good  job  of  explaining  a  certain  concept  in  a  reporter’s  story,  so  he  writes  his  own  appropriate  quote  

  A  journalist  writes  about  the  hospital  where  his  wife  is  on  the  board  of  directors  

  An  amusement  park  gives  free  admission  to  a  roller  coaster  reviewer  

OPTIONS  

A.  Fabrication  B.  Invasion  of  Privacy  C.  Payola/Gifts  D.  Conflict  of  Interest  E.  Plagiarism  

BREACH  

  A  journalist  claims  to  be  a  city  inspector  so  he  can  get  access  to  a  restricted  area  of  a  city  building  

  A  health  reporter  writes  about  a  new  drug  and  studies  showing  it  prevents  heart  attacks,  but  he  doesn’t  discuss  three  studies  that  show  the  drug’s  side  effects  

  A  reporter  writes  about  the  new  products  at  a  company  that  fired  his  daughter  

  A  reporter  gives  $20  for  a  cab  ride  to  a  homeless  man  he  interviewed  about  city  services  for  the  homeless  

  A  restaurant  sends  three  $20  gift  certificates  to  the  local  newsroom  

  A  reporter  works  on  the  Rick  Perry  campaign  and  then  writes  a  story  about  Mitt  Romney  

OPTIONS  

A.  Bias  B.  Checkbook  

Journalism  C.  Payola/Gifts  D.  Conflict  of  Interest  E.  Misrepresentation