You be the Editor
Newspapers and their readers love the truth, but they routinely differ over how much truth should be published. The decision to print potentially embarrassing, agonizing facts is a judgement call - and today, you are all going to experience that decision making process.
Here is your chance to play the role of an editor. The following cases are based on real news events. You have two choices in each scenario. There are no right or wrong answers. Other options may occur to you, but to keep results uncomplicated, please mark either (a) or (b) for each case on the coupon provided on this page. Use a separate piece of paper to explain or amplify your decision in a paragraph. Choose 8 of the 12 case studies to respond to. Be sure to include the Case # with your response. Turn in Option #1: Email your responses to [email protected] and use "Case Studies" as the subject Turn in Option #2: Save your responses in a Word Document saved as "Last Name--Case Studies" in the Journalism Folder in the Drop Box. |
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Case #1
Figures in a Christmas nativity scene in a public park have been vandalized and the community is outraged, with some people calling for corporal punishment for the culprits. Police question suspects seen in the vicinity but there's insufficient evidence to determine which members of the group damaged the figures. Police, however, issue a charge of causing mischief against one teenager seen pulling down a string of lights as the group left the area.
Your newspaper does not publish the names of the accused persons unless it intends to follow a court case to conclusion. This can be a lengthy and time consuming process. Also, the newspaper usually doesn't publish names of those accused of minor offenses. As editor, do you:
A. Name the accused person, who may or may not have been the ringleader.
B. Do not name the accused, but report a person has been charged.
Your newspaper does not publish the names of the accused persons unless it intends to follow a court case to conclusion. This can be a lengthy and time consuming process. Also, the newspaper usually doesn't publish names of those accused of minor offenses. As editor, do you:
A. Name the accused person, who may or may not have been the ringleader.
B. Do not name the accused, but report a person has been charged.
Case #2
It is your newspaper's policy to include cause of death whenever possible in obituaries of newsworthy people. A prominent cleric dies but relatives refuse to discuss cause of death. A reporter is able to confirm from a close family member the cause was an AIDS-related illness.
Do you:
A. Go against wishes of the family and print that AIDS was the cause of death.
B. List the cause as complications of pneumonia, without reference to AIDS.
Do you:
A. Go against wishes of the family and print that AIDS was the cause of death.
B. List the cause as complications of pneumonia, without reference to AIDS.
Case #3
A prominent community leader dies suddenly of a heart attack, leaving his immediate family and many friends and associates in shock. A newspaper photographer is assigned to cover the large funeral attended by many community leaders. The photographer returns with a selection of pictures, including one taken near the graveside of the grief-stricken widow being embraced by her daughter.
Do you:
A. Publish the graveside photo because it is the most compelling of those taken and reflects the sense of loss shared by the community.
B. Choose another more routine shot showing pall-bearers carrying the casket.
Do you:
A. Publish the graveside photo because it is the most compelling of those taken and reflects the sense of loss shared by the community.
B. Choose another more routine shot showing pall-bearers carrying the casket.
Case #4
During an armed robbery of an electronic store, two gunmen hold several customers hostage. After hours of negotiations, police storm the store and shoot the gunmen to death. In the gunfire, one of the robbers kills one of the hostages.
Later, a coroner tells your reporter the dead hostage may have been committing a crime himself because he had video equipment hidden in his clothing which was "apparel that shoplifters use." The fact the dead hostage may have been killed while shoplifting is news.
Do you:
A. Use the information, being careful to attribute it to the official sources.
B. Do not use this information because the dead man can't explain himself and while the evidence is suspicious of shoplifting, the dead man's family shouldn't have to endure shame as well as grief.
Later, a coroner tells your reporter the dead hostage may have been committing a crime himself because he had video equipment hidden in his clothing which was "apparel that shoplifters use." The fact the dead hostage may have been killed while shoplifting is news.
Do you:
A. Use the information, being careful to attribute it to the official sources.
B. Do not use this information because the dead man can't explain himself and while the evidence is suspicious of shoplifting, the dead man's family shouldn't have to endure shame as well as grief.
Case #5
A reporter and photographer are assigned to interview a popular politician who has recently completed an alcohol-recovery program paid for by a group of citizens. He is now pledged to a life of sobriety. One photo taken in his office reveals what appears to be a liquor bottle partially hidden in a bookcase, behind some folders.
Do you:
A. Erase the bottle from the picture.
B. Publish the picture intact and let readers come to their own conclusions.
Do you:
A. Erase the bottle from the picture.
B. Publish the picture intact and let readers come to their own conclusions.
Case #6
A once-prominent merchant, who disappeared from public life 20 years ago after a trial and conviction of fraud, dies. He had been well known, not only for the store that bore his name, but also because of his community service as head of several local fund-raising charities, his membership in leading civic and social clubs and because he was a decorated Second World War veteran. He served a short term in prison, his store was sold and eventually closed.
Do you:
A. Instruct a reporter writing the obituary to include details of this disgraceful episode in his life because his trial at the time was a major news story and to leave it out would look like a cover-up.
B. Tell the reporter to leave it out in deference to the family. The man hasn't been in the news for 20 years and nothing will be served by rehashing his misdeeds. Let him be remembered for his accomplishments.
Do you:
A. Instruct a reporter writing the obituary to include details of this disgraceful episode in his life because his trial at the time was a major news story and to leave it out would look like a cover-up.
B. Tell the reporter to leave it out in deference to the family. The man hasn't been in the news for 20 years and nothing will be served by rehashing his misdeeds. Let him be remembered for his accomplishments.
Case #7
For three weeks there has been a persistent rumor in the business community that a local manufacturing firm plans to lay off up to one-quarter of its work force. Your reporter checks it out from all angles but the best sources come up with nothing. Although baseless, the rumor persists.
Do you:
A. True or not, you believe the rumor is news because it's so widespread. You ask that a story be written reporting it is a rumor and also that no basis in fact can be found.
B. You decide to print no story because some readers may interpret it as a sneaky way of hinting the rumor may be true. Also, publishing non-news about a baseless rumor seems irresponsible.
Do you:
A. True or not, you believe the rumor is news because it's so widespread. You ask that a story be written reporting it is a rumor and also that no basis in fact can be found.
B. You decide to print no story because some readers may interpret it as a sneaky way of hinting the rumor may be true. Also, publishing non-news about a baseless rumor seems irresponsible.
Case #8
A judge awards custody of an infant placed for adoption to two lesbians, then seals all records about the case - including the judge's name. A reporter learns of the adoption and in her story notes the judge's identity cannot be established.
Some readers are irate and say the newspaper is covering up. They insist they have the right to know the identity of the judge and demand the newspaper publish his name.
Several days later a clerk hands the reporter a copy of the adoption papers which have been removed illegally from files. The adoption papers identify the judge.
Do you:
A. Publish a story naming the judge, even though the papers were obtained illegally. You believe the public is entitled to know and the reporter was simply the recipient of the document and did not herself steal the material.
B. You do not publish. The public's interest should not override the fact the records were sealed and taken from files illegally, no matter who took them.
Some readers are irate and say the newspaper is covering up. They insist they have the right to know the identity of the judge and demand the newspaper publish his name.
Several days later a clerk hands the reporter a copy of the adoption papers which have been removed illegally from files. The adoption papers identify the judge.
Do you:
A. Publish a story naming the judge, even though the papers were obtained illegally. You believe the public is entitled to know and the reporter was simply the recipient of the document and did not herself steal the material.
B. You do not publish. The public's interest should not override the fact the records were sealed and taken from files illegally, no matter who took them.
Case #9
While a man sits watching television in his living room in one of the city's more affluent suburbs, a drive-by sniper shoots through the front window and wounds him, but not seriously.
He persuades police investigators not to release his name and address because he doesn't know whether he was an intended or random target. He'll feel safer if he isn't identified publicly. One of your reporters phones around and manages to come put with the man's name and address.
Do you:
A. Identify the man and give his street address, keeping in mind other residents in the neighborhood may want or need to know, perhaps to protect themselves because the shooting may have been random. A couple of homes a few kilometres away are also targets the same night.
B. Accede to the man's fears and withhold his identification and address, simply giving the general area of the city in which the shooting occurred.
He persuades police investigators not to release his name and address because he doesn't know whether he was an intended or random target. He'll feel safer if he isn't identified publicly. One of your reporters phones around and manages to come put with the man's name and address.
Do you:
A. Identify the man and give his street address, keeping in mind other residents in the neighborhood may want or need to know, perhaps to protect themselves because the shooting may have been random. A couple of homes a few kilometres away are also targets the same night.
B. Accede to the man's fears and withhold his identification and address, simply giving the general area of the city in which the shooting occurred.
Case #10
A local politician addresses a group of his constituents and tells a raw, sexual joke in the process. Several in the audience are greatly offended and walk out. Your reporter's story of the speech includes a reference to the walk out and retells the joke, with explicit language, so readers can make their own judgments about the protest.
Do you:
A. Decide the joke's impact can only be conveyed by using exact language, and let it be published even though many readers will be offended.
B. Decide readers don't need to know explicit details and take it out of the story.
Do you:
A. Decide the joke's impact can only be conveyed by using exact language, and let it be published even though many readers will be offended.
B. Decide readers don't need to know explicit details and take it out of the story.
Case #11
A children's puzzle book that was to be removed from stores because of its racist content shows up on the shelves of some local stores. A reporter outlines the situation and reports the comments of spokespersons for the minority group, which considers the material highly offensive. The book's distributor agrees the materials is racist and promises to ask all merchants who hadn't yet complied to remove it from sale, but has no way of forcing compliance.
Your reporter describes the book in detail and includes some of the offensive terms it uses to describe the minority.
Do you:
A. Include the specific details of the book, including the offensive wording so that readers may understand its racist content and know what to look for and guard against.
B. Decide the story naming the puzzle book, the store where it was found and general description of content is sufficient, without the need for giving readers explicit detail of offensive language.
Your reporter describes the book in detail and includes some of the offensive terms it uses to describe the minority.
Do you:
A. Include the specific details of the book, including the offensive wording so that readers may understand its racist content and know what to look for and guard against.
B. Decide the story naming the puzzle book, the store where it was found and general description of content is sufficient, without the need for giving readers explicit detail of offensive language.
Case #12
The newspaper gets an anonymous letter alleging a world-famous medical researcher at a local university is guilty of scientific fraud. The anonymous writer indicates copies of the letter have been sent to nine others, including the researcher's department head, the heads of fund-granting institutions which channeled substantial sums of public money into the researcher's projects, and the editor of a professional journal.
Most anonymous letters go into the wastebasket but because this one was literate and typewritten by someone who obviously knew what was going on in the labs, a reporter is assigned to check it out. It is learned the researcher was reprimanded on a purely procedural and technical matter which had nothing to do with the validity of research. Also, the reprimand was being appealed.
Do you:
A. Publish a story about the reprimand to set the record straight.
B. Drop the matter as being information not of legitimate public concern.
Most anonymous letters go into the wastebasket but because this one was literate and typewritten by someone who obviously knew what was going on in the labs, a reporter is assigned to check it out. It is learned the researcher was reprimanded on a purely procedural and technical matter which had nothing to do with the validity of research. Also, the reprimand was being appealed.
Do you:
A. Publish a story about the reprimand to set the record straight.
B. Drop the matter as being information not of legitimate public concern.