While cheering at a school sporting event, a cheerleader does not execute a back handspring correctly, falls and breaks her neck. She winds up paralyzed from the waist down and is out of school for almost the entire year before she returns to graduate with her class in May. At the sporting event, a yearbook photographer takes a picture of the girl showing her writhing in pain on the gym floor. Would you publish the picture? Why or why not?

You have heard rumors that one of the football coaches at your school uses foul language directed at players during practice and uses physical punishments such as running hills and push-ups without letting players take a break or get drinks of water. You even had a report he shoved a player in the locker room during a team meeting. Would you cover the story? How?

You are the editor of the Post-Dispatch. There has been a bombing at a Paris hotel where many American tourists were staying. The photos are fairly gruesome with most displaying bodies and injured people. Do you run the photos knowing they might be upsetting to some people?

Dilemma Discussion Checklist What legal concerns are there? (libel/invasion of privacy/obscenity/disruption of educational process) Define the ethical issue. (seek truth & report it/minimize harm/act independently/be accountable) How would I feel if it were about my family/me? What are likely consequences of publication? What are the alternatives?