Journalism

Authors: Beausoleil, Mary
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When a woman, unused to dealing with the media, makes statements about how she loves being a mother to her two children and is happy living off of welfare checks, a media storm. Did the newspaper take advantage of the woman's frank...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/handling-sources/betraying-a-trust/

Authors: Peyser, Andrea
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When covering a highly-publicized struggle about a 5-year old girl trying to enter the public school system, a journalist is forced to break a promise to the child's mother and reveal the child's identity. ...
Year: 1989
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/handling-sources/broken-promise/

Authors: Thomas, Scott
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: A reporter doing a story about obsessive-compulsive disorder gets an interview with a woman suffering from the condition. After giving the interview, the woman wants to withdraw her interview because of the stress she is under. The...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/handling-sources/can-i-take-it-back/

Authors: Wolbrueck, David J.
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When the editor of a local newspaper publishes an interview of a Palestinian-American criticizing the Gulf War, he never thought it would lead to him getting fired for publishing an "unpatriotic" article....
Year: 1991
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/military-issues/firing-at-round-rock/

Authors: Hughes, Robin
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When covering funerals of soldiers killed in the Gulf War, television news stations jumped into pools that rotated interviews and coverage of events, and made them available to other news agencies involved in the pool, in order to l...
Year: 1991
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/military-issues/a-kinder-gentler-news-media/

Authors: Henneberger, Melinda
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: Newsweek reporters were shocked to hear that the New York's Opperation Welcome Home parade was partially being sponsored by Newsweek. As the Newsweek journalists had spent weeks covering this controversial war, many considered it a...
Year: 1991
URL: FineLine: The Newsletter On Journalism Ethics, vol. 3, no. 7 (July/August 1991), pp. 1, 8.

Authors: Elliott, Deni
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: Journalists should cut all the flag-waving and pro-war rhetoric and get back to their traditional role of observing and questioning....
Year: 1991
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/military-issues/rallying-round-the-flag/

Authors: Hedges, Chris
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: A journalist permitted to cross the lines in Central America must maintain the appearance of impartiality....
Year: 1989
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/military-issues/tell-the-truth-stay-alive/

Authors: Stoehr, Christina ; Zurawik, David
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: Discusses media coverage of the Gulf War and the lack of actual news coverage in favor of one-dimensional warmongering done by television news. ...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/military-issues/the-windbags-of-war/

Authors: Rotello, Gabriel
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: Why should the homosexuality of a famous person be considered a taboo subject when other personal matters are considered fair game?...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/invading-privacy/the-ethics-of-outing/

Authors: Offer, David B.
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: Three college students had been charged with a crime and named in the newspaper. What should the newspaper do when the grand jury does not indict them?...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/names-make-news/

Authors: Krevetz, Charles
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: Your news department doesn’t identify sex crime victims. But the victim’s name was used before the crime was revealed. Other news outlets are using his identity – and picture. Is there any reason to now withhold the name?...
Year: 1989
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/naming-a-victim/

Authors: Smith, Conley L.
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When an editor discovers that a columnist is plagiarizing some of her columns. When confronted, the columnist admits her guilt, and pleads with the editor not to make it public. Should the columnist get fired? Should the fact of the...
Year: 1989
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/punishing-plagiarizers/

Authors: Pace, Ray
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When a AIDS educator contacts a Miami newspaper editor wanting to print an announcement telling people where to go for AIDS testing, she also lets slip the identity of a bar owner who tested positive for AIDS and was known to be ext...
Year: 1991
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/sounding-an-alarm-on-aids/

Authors: Elliott, Deni
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: The case looks at instances where journalists have exploited children when they are the subject of a news story, even when chat child has been charged with a crime....
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/suffer-the-children-2/

Authors: Welch, Stan
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When a a solder is killed during the Gulf War as a result of friendly fire, the editor of the local newspaper has to decide if she should print that information and diminish the dead soldier's status as a hometown hero. When she doe...
Year: 1991
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/military-issues/the-death-of-a-soldier/

Authors: Robertson, Richard
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When a newspaper withholds the name of a sexually abused child from publication, a key bit of information is left out of the story, causing confusion among the newspaper's readers. Should have the information been published to avoi...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/absent-with-no-malice/

Authors: Elliott, Deni
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: The author discusses the tradition of newspapers not to publish the names of rape victims, and if this tradition should change. ...
Year: 1989
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/anonymity-for-rape-victims/

Authors: Alger, Tim
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When covering the bizarre case of a former beauty queen abducting her own children from the home of her former husband when she disagreed with a judge's decision to give her ex-husband custody, the wife brought forward a surprise wi...
Year: 1989
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/an-exception-to-the-rule/

Authors: Paxson, Richard
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: While covering the story of a 13 year old boy who accidentally killed his classmate, the staff of the Des Moines Register has to decide if they should print the name of the boy, and/or quote him. ...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/the-boy-with-a-broken-heart/

Authors: Ojanpa, Brian
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: Should the rules about naming plaintiffs in the press change when a sexual misconduct case is brought in civil, rather than criminal, court?...
Year: 1991
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/civilly-suitable/

Authors: Breuer, Howard
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When a local newspaper gets a copy of an affidavit revealing how a local man tried to hire a hitman to kill his girlfriend, should the newspaper print the girlfriend's name, even if she probably is no longer in danger?...
Year: 1990
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/creating-a-victim/

Authors: Sipe, Kerry
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When a sixteen year old boy is charged with the murder of two younger boys, two newspapers in the area publish his name and picture. Does the severity of the crime justify breaking the standards of not publishing juveniles' names i...
Year: 1991
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/everyone-already-knew/

Authors: Hughes, Robin
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: When the director of Connecticut's Permanent Commission on the Status of Women was raped, she consented to being named in an interview with a local newspaper discussing the pain, fear, and anger she experienced resulting from the at...
Year: 9999
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/an-exceptional-case/

Authors: Gust, Steve
Publication Type: Case Study
Abstract: A driver unknowingly runs over a small child. Should the driver’s name be made public by local news agencies? Or would you be creating a second innocent victim?...
Year: 1989
URL: http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/naming-newsmakers/innocent-victims/