7 Common Ethical Dilemmas Conflict of interest: Examples include interviewing friends; only interviewing one grade or those with a specific point of view; covering clubs and teams that you are a member of, "getting even" with those who might have wronged you Plagiarism: Claiming others' work as one's own, essentially stealing from them. Students must credit other people's materials and ideas. This includes "borrowing" or downloading visuals from the Internet to use without permission with stories. Anonymous/unnamed sources: Although reporters sometimes use anonymous sources, most news organizations have strict guidelines about when to use them. A reporter has to determine the information's value and whether is it possible to get it any other way. WHEN DO YOU THINK IT IS OK TO ALLOW A SOURCE TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS?

7 Common Ethical Dilemmas (Continued) Offending or distasteful content: While some use of "dirty" language might be necessary, journalists have to decide if there is another way to present the information or if the presentation will be so offensive it will preclude readers from getting the information. There is almost always a higher road to take. Invasion of privacy: While this is often a legal issue, it is also an ethical one. Reporters and editors must consider the consequences of publishing the outstanding news value photo or naming someone in an article. Bias: Human beings cannot be purely objective. The mere selection of one story over another raises the issue of value judgments. Those who create content must attempt to be as fair, impartial and transparent to the public as is possible. Commitment to accuracy: Little undermines integrity and credibility of news reports more than carelessness, errors or, in rare circumstances, deceit or not being transparent about how/why a story was done. The rush to be first - whether digital, online or in print - is no justification for not checking and double-checking data, information and sources.

7 Common Ethical Dilemmas Coming up with Examples Review your notes on common ethical dilemmas and come up with an example of how you may face this dilemma over the next few months as you write articles for this class. How would you handle the dilemma? Why? Conflict of interest Plagiarism Anonymous/unnamed sources Offending or distasteful content Invasion of privacy Bias Commitment to accuracy

Jayson Blair Controversy In May, 2003, 27-year-old New York Times reporter Jayson Blair resigned amidst charges that he plagiarized a story about the family of an American soldier in Iraq from a story written by San Antonio Express-News reporter Macarena Hernandez. Blair misled readers and Times colleagues with: dispatches that claimed to be from Maryland, Texas and other states, when often he was far away, in New York he fabricated comments he lifted material from other newspapers and wire services he selected details from photographs to create the impression he had been somewhere or seen someone, when he had not http://www.pbs.org/newshour/media/media_ethics/casestudy_blair.php

Jayson Blair Controversy A Few of His Many Transgressions In the April 19, 2003 piece "In Military Wards, Questions and Fears From the Wounded", Blair described interviewing four injured soldiers in a naval hospital. He never went to the hospital and only spoke to one soldier on the phone, to whom he later attributed made-up quotes. Blair wrote that the soldier "will most likely limp the rest of his life and need to use a cane," which was untrue. He said another soldier had lost his right leg when it had only been amputated below the knee. He described two soldiers as being in the hospital at the same time, when in fact they were admitted five days apart. In the April 3, 2003 piece "Rescue in Iraq and a ‘Big Stir' in West Virginia", Blair claimed to have covered the Jessica Lynch story from her home town of Palestine, West Virginia. Blair never traveled to Palestine, and his entire contribution to the story consisted of rearranged details from Associated Press stories.

Katie Couric Interviews Blair http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4457860/

Jayson Blair Controversy Is Blair solely to blame? A Times inquiry revealed that Blair’s quick advancement with the Times may have been due in part to him being favored as part of a "star system" that advanced some reporters close to then-executive editor Howell Raines. The Times inquiry also established that various editors and reporters expressed misgivings about Mr. Blair's reporting skills, maturity and behavior during his five-year journey from intern to reporter. His mistakes became so routine that by April 2002, Jonathan Landman, the metropolitan editor, sent the following e-mail to newsroom administrators: "We have to stop Jayson from writing for the Times. Right now." After taking a leave for personal problems and being sternly warned, both orally and in writing, that his job was in peril, Mr. Blair improved his performance. By the October 2002, the newspaper's top two editors — who said they believed that Mr. Blair had turned his life and work around — had guided him to the understaffed national desk, where he was assigned to help cover the Washington sniper case. In the spring of 2003, the Blair controversy came to light.

Jayson Blair Controversy Who do you think is more to blame: Blair for being extremely unprofessional or the Times for ignoring the warning signs and allowing this to happen?