MEDIA ETHICS IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO BE HURT BY WHAT GETS PRINTED OR BROADCAST ABOUT THEM, THEN JOURNALISTS NEED TO PROVIDE A REASON-A GOOD REASON-FOR GOING WITH IT.

DECEPTION A case of deception that generated considerable media discussion in the 1990s was the Food Lion/ABC-TV case. ABC reporters lied on their job applications to get hired by Food Lion and used undercover cameras to record employees discussing meat dept. practices. The reporters produced a story accusing Food Lion of selling rotten meat, fish and cheese. Food Lion didn’t challenge the facts, but did sue for trespassing.

DECEPTION Could the reporters have gotten the story any other way? ABC doesn’t think so. But many journalists have questioned the use of deception in this and many other situations. Increase in hidden cameras due to improved technology making them small enough to be hidden. Media critics say it was to add more sensationalism.

DECEPTION To catch a predator Hired a watchdog group to pose as underage boys and girls to chat online with “predators.” Reporter would go into the home and call them out, with police waiting in the wings. What do you think?

DECEPTION 200 predators caught One Texas assistant DA was pursued by Dateline as a pedophile suspect. He committed suicide when police entered his home.

DECEPTION Is there any other way to get the story? Is the information of such overriding public importance that it can help people avoid harm? Is there any way you could obtain the information through conventional reporting Are you placing innocent people at risk? For example, you should not pose as a nurse, law enforcement officer or employee in a job for which you might not be trained.

PLAGIARISM Technology has made it easier to plagiarize with the accessibility to thousands of news sources. Fabrication is bad news, too. Don’t make up quotes, add false description or pass off fictional material as news. Using someone else’s idea for a story is usually not considered plagiarism. It is good practice to localize a national story. Or use an idea from another paper but do your own reporting.

PRIVACY You may have the legal right to publish certain information, but do you have the ethical right? Ethics is the study of choices about what we should or should not do. Morality is concerned with behavior.

Let’s talk about sex? Would you print information about the sex life of a politician? The Miami Herald, in 1987, decided it was relevant. Former Senator Gary Hart was seeking the Democratic Nomination for the presidency, while rumors lingered for months about infidelity to his wife. The rumors called into question his character and credibility.

Let’s talk about sex? When asked about the rumors, Hart challenged reporters to follow him around. Reporters got a tip Hart had a relationship with a Florida model, Herald reporters stalked out his townhome. They revealed he spent the night with a woman, Donna Rice. He never admitted the relationship was sexual. Hart withdrew his candidacy the day before the Washington Post was set to reveal evidence from another affair.

Let’s talk about sex? Clinton and Monica Lewinsky Many newspapers and websites printed the full grand jury report, which contained graphic sexual details. Impeachment hearings since he changed his tune. Should a politician’s private life be dissected in public?

CRIMINAL RECORDS Is it in the public interest to reveal the criminal background of a candidate if he/she withdraws from the race before the story is printed? University of Kansas Student running for government, but had been convicted for indecent solicitation of a child six years earlier. Students urged the paper not to print the details, saying their friend had suffered enough.

CRIMINAL RECORDS The student resigned. Held a press conference, with no questions. Said he was HIV-positive and resigned from the organization representing gays and lesbians. Editor said it was one of the toughest decisions he ever made. Paper decided to print the information since it was relevant to why he resigned. Said candidate learned he was HIV-positive three weeks earlier.

CRIMINAL RECORDS Angry students protest and dumped the school paper on the lawn in front of the newspaper office. What do you think?

NAMING SUSPECTS 1996 Olympics in Atlanta Pipe bomb explosion killed one person and injured 111. Security guard Richard Jewell was named a hero for alerting police to the bomb. Three days later, he was a suspect after papers printed his name. Jewell was never charged with the crime. But he was the subject of newspapers and broadcasts across the country. He was vindicated, but said his life had been ruined.

RAPE CASES Naming rape accusers is another continuing ethical debate. Because of the stigma of rape, most news organizations withhold the names of people who claim they have been raped. Duke lacrosse case A poor, black single mother who was earning money as a stripper vs. three white male students

RAPE CASES One of two strippers hired to dance at a party. She accused three players of raping her. Three were charged with rape, but DNA tests of the three and all the other players did not match the woman at the hospital after the party. DA withheld DNA evidence Accuser changed her story multiple times. DA persisted with the case. After year-long investigation, players were exonerated.

RAPE CASES “This woman has destroyed everything I worked for in my life,” one player said. The accused players were named in the press, but the accuser was not until the case was resolved. Media rush to judgment?

PHOTO SUBJECTS At what point is a photograph an invasion of privacy? Should the media use pictures that depict gore and tragedy even if that would upset readers and viewers? Graphic images of Iraqi prisoners abused by U.S. soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison. Naked prisoners being tortured and humiliated. The public was outraged. Editors grappled with what to use.

PHOTO SUBJECTS Osama bin Laden killed by Americans in a military raid. Proof that he’s dead? President Obama decided not to release the photo. “There’s no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden.” What do you think?

PHOTO SUBJECT Ethicist Louis Hodges: Publish private information about public officials or public figures if it affects their public duties. But for victims of crime, publish private information only if they give their permission because these are people with special needs and vulnerability.