Matt Wisniewski, a journalism student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has put together three excercises in ethical decision-making designed for digital media. He modified the ASNE-Poynter Ethics Tool and was assisted in this project by Bob Steele, Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values at the Poynter Institute.
Scenario One
You run an online news site in New York known for its up-to-date coverage of breaking news. An explosion erupts in a building in Manhattan and all of its occupants have been evacuated. Your reporter is on the scene interviewing three witnesses of the explosion, who say a mother and child have been killed on the fifth floor. Your reporter cannot find a New York Fire Department source to confirm the information, and your calls to the NYFD command center go unanswered. Do you post the information?
The decision ...
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Scenario Two
You are the online editor for a local TV news station in a city with a large university. The college football team unexpectedly wins a game against its chief rival. The crowd spills out of the stadium and onto the street, just as night falls. Almost immediately, the scene turns violent, with fans overturning vehicles and fights erupting. A student you do not know calls the station to tell you she has a camera and is capturing video in the center of the storm, which she’ll sell to your station. What do you do?
The decision ...
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Scenario Three
You are a community newspaper crime reporter. A 10-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and killed last week, her body dumped in a nature preserve. Police have provided almost no information on the case, other than the victim’s name, age and the location of the body. Neither they nor the coroner will release even the cause of death. A source you know and who has provided credible information in the past leaks to you a list of three suspects’ names. You trust the accuracy of the list because of the source’s position. All three suspects have profiles on the social networking site Facebook, and all are open to the public. Do you use Facebook to gather information on them?
The decision...
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