Assignment:
Discussion 1
Summarize a news story you read recently in a newspaper or in an online report or heard on broadcast media, and answer the following questions:
? Was this a proper story to report? Why or why not?
? Did the public have the right to know this information? Why or why not?
? Were there any ethical considerations in this story? If there were, what were they?
Your initial post should be at least 250 to 300 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.
Discussion 2
You are a reporter for XYZ Television and are assigned to do a story for the Evening News on the theft of $3,000 from a church. Here are the facts as you know them:
The secretary at the church was gone from the office during the lunch hour on Monday, and when she returned she saw that the door to an adjacent room was ajar. Upon further inspection, she noticed that a cash box containing Sunday's offering with $3,000 in cash and checks was missing. You arrive at the church and talk to the secretary and police officers on the scene. There is no suspect.
You take down the information and as you return to your car, a neighbor approaches you. He noticed the station's call letters on your vehicle, and he has some information for you. He tells you that he is aware the church's custodian, W.L. "Larry" Jorgensen, was fired the previous week for not doing his work properly. According to the neighbor, Larry is a guy who could have stolen the cash.
Answer the following questions and use at least one of the "Truth Telling Imperatives" from page 20 of the text, Journalistic Ethics: Moral Responsibility in the Media, to support your responses:
• Given the information you have received from the secretary and the neighbor, what are the moral considerations?
• When you write your story, would you claim that there is a suspect and go even further by specifying that W.L. "Larry" Jorgensen is suspected of the theft?
• Would you interview the neighbor for your story? And if you so, would you quote him?
Your initial post should be at least 250 to 300 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.