JOURNALISM ETHICS & ISSUESCLASS #21 | JRNL 4650 | FALL 2016

• Instructor: Bill Mitchell • bmitch (at) gmail (dot) com• 727-641-9407• 17 November 2016 | Northeastern Univ.

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WHAT WE’LL DO TODAY • Preview of remaining classes

• Quiz review

• Notebook viewing of Nightline segment on Cynthia Wiggins

• Discussion of your observations, questions

• Notebook viewing of Keith Woods’ interview with Koppel & Wray

• Extra credit opportunity: Critique & analyze the Nightline segment

• Reading assignments for Cristela Guerra’s visit on Tues. Nov. 22

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REMAINING CLASSES

• 3 visitors with extra credit option

• Workshop time for your final papers

• Deadline extended for final paper to end of day Monday, Dec. 12

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TUESDAY NOV. 22: CRISTELA GUERRA ON THE ETHICS OF EVERYDAY REPORTING

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TUESDAY NOV. 29: DAVID BEARD ON THE ETHICS OF INTRAPRENEURSHIP

(AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE)

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THURSDAY DEC.1: MARIA BALINSKA ON THE ETHICS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(AND LIFE @ THE BBC)

EDITOR OF THECONVERSATION.COM/USON TWITTER: @MARIABALINSKA

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ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 1. John Henry bought the Boston Globe from The New York Times for (a) a lot more than, (b) a lot less than or (c) approximately the same as what the Times paid for the Globe. Correct answer: (b) (three students got it wrong)

• From the reading: “Henry had purchased the Globe and its associated properties — most prominently Boston.com and the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester — for $70 million…The sale price represents a huge comedown from 1993, when the Times Co. purchased the Globe for $1.1 billion…”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 2. In his Shorenstein paper on Jeff Bezos’ ownership of the Washington Post, Dan Kennedy reports that Post insiders say Bezos is operating the paper more as a personal plaything than a business. False (three students got it wrong)

• From the reading: “Insiders at the Post emphasize that Bezos is operating the Post as a business, not as an extravagant personal plaything.”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 3. The Washington Post last year passed the New York Times as the U.S. newspaper with the largest digital audience. Correct answer: True(one student got it wrong)

• From the reading: “Baron and I also talked about how the Post was able to amass a larger digital audience than The New York Times despite having a similar journalistic mission and a staff that’s just half the size of the Times’s.”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 4. Paid U.S. daily newspaper circulation grew from about 40 million in 1968 to about 60 million in 2014. Correct answer: False(one student got it wrong)

• From the reading: “Paid daily circulation in the United States fell from a post–1940 high of more than 60 million in 1968 to just 40.4 million in 2014…”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 5. Since Jeff Bezos bought the paper, the staff of the Washington Post newsroom has (a) grown, (b) gotten smaller or (c) stayed about the same as it was before. Correct answer: (a)(eight students got it wrong)

• From the reading: “As of March 2016, the Post employed about 700 full-time journalists, an expansion of about 140* positions from the time that Bezos bought the paper.”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 6. One way to sum up Bezos’ business strategy for the Post would be his observation that the paper needs to make a relatively small amount of money per reader on a base of lots of readers vs making a lot of money per reader on a smaller base. Correct answer: True(one student got it wrong)

• From the reading: “…And we need instead to make a relatively small amount of money per reader on a much larger number of readers.”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 7. In deciding whether publication of private matters represents an improper invasion of privacy, courts consider whether the matter is a kind that that (a) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person; and (b) is not of legitimate concern to the public. Correct answer: True(four students got it wrong)

• From the reading: “The principle is explained succinctly in this warning to journalists published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: One who gives publicity to a matter concerning the private life of another is subject to liability to the other for invasion of privacy, if the matter publicized is of a kind that (a) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person; and (b) is not of legitimate concern to the public.”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 8. In his Washington Post opinion piece, Dan Kennedy focused on which of the following Trump-related issues: (a) fact-checking, (b) tax returns or (c) the way media organizations set up the debates. Correct answer: c(seven students got it wrong)

• From the reading: “The debates gave Donald Trump the nomination, and it’s the media’s fault” (headline with Dan’s Post piece)

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 9. In assessing what journalists should do to provide better coverage of Donald Trump, journalism scholar Jay Rosen argued that journalists should do things they have never done before and “may even have to shock us.” Correct answer: True(five students got it wrong)

• From the reading: “They (journalists) have to do things they have never done. They may even have to shock us.”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

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• 10. In its 2003 coverage of charges that Arnold Schwarzenegger had groped a number of women, the Los Angeles Times decided to pursue which of the following options under consideration: (a) publish its investigation late in the campaign; (b) hold it and publish after the election, (c) or withhold publication and never publish it. Correct answer: {a}(eight students got it wrong)

• From the reading: “I'll also tell you why we published the first of those articles a mere five days before voters went to the polls, a decision that has prompted an outpouring of campaign denunciations, talk-show rants and blistering e-mails.”

FOREMAN CHAPTER 18: ETHICS ISSUES SPECIFIC TO DIGITAL JOURNALISM

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• We’ve covered most of the ground in this chapter previously, but some highlights/reminders:

“UNPUBLISHING”: BEST PRACTICES

• Create a clear policy.• Unpublish for the right reasons.• Require a consensus to unpublish.• Correct the archives and flag the

stories to note the corrections.• Remember: In our daily reporting,

harmful mistakes will live forever.

Following slides adapted from Wiley & Sons’ Instructors’ Resources

THE AUDIENCE TALKS BACK

• An important advantage of digital journalism is the ability of the audience to join the conversation.

• The problem is that the unmonitored comments can be vulgar, abusive, and factually incorrect.

ANONYMITY IS A FACTOR

“People – even ordinary, good people – often change their behavior in radical ways. There is even a term for it: the online disinhibition effect.”

Julie Zhou of Facebook

TWO VIEWS OF ANONYMITY

• Allowing anonymity broadens the civic debate by allowing vulnerable people to participate.

• Allowing anonymity permits the kind of behavior that is unacceptable in a civic debate.

BLOGS AS PART OF THE JOB• The journalist can connect with the

audience in a more relaxed and personal manner.

• But social media and blogs should not be a vehicle for expressing opinions on the people and events that the journalist covers, or for commenting on controversial issues.

• When the journalist uses social media and blogs to transmit news, does an editor get a chance to preview the reporting?

BENEFITS OF BLOGS FOR NEWS ORGANIZATIONS

• Blogs and social media are especially useful in covering a breaking news story.

• They can also make it easier for the news organization to explain decisions – and thus to be accountable and transparent.

JOURNALISTS’ HOBBY BLOGS• The web is a public forum, and

journalists should avoid discussing topics they cover on their jobs.

• A journalist’s employer may object to personal postings that that could be viewed as competition, or that discuss internal newsroom issues.

THE BENEFITS OF LINKING

• The audience gets to see documents that the reporter used in the story.

• The reporter shows attribution clearly by linking to earlier news stories.

• The audience can be directed to websites offering more information.

QUESTIONABLE LINKS

• Do you link to a graphic, hate-mongering site?

• Will it be viewed as an endorsement?• A best practice: Offer the link, but

inform the user about what to expect.

NIGHTLINE: THE COLOR LINE & THE BUS

LINE• As you watch, make notes (noting

timestamp) about: • Ethics issues raised by the coverage –

journalistic as well as more generally• Approaches in the reporting that work well• Approaches in the reporting you’d

challenge• Overall assessment of the segment

ASSIGNMENTS FOR TUESDAY NOV. 22

• Read #19 in Foreman: Ethics Issues Specific to Visual Journalism

• Read “Hull turns out to say goodbye to 15 year-old Emma Ryan,” by Cristela Guerra (I will email these urls) https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/11/03/emotions-overflowing-town-says-goodbye-year-old-emma-ryan/140tRYJsIbob5ibIV9xafL/story.html

• Read, “Minnesota crews come to the rescue of Mass. Rooftops,” by Cristela Guerra https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/03/05/minnesota-crews-rescue/JaKgEgceZTijvr6cwrqbnN/story.html

• Read, “Humble giant for cherished tiny world,” by Cristela Guerra https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/11/23/michael-paul-smith-winchester-reclusive-model-maker-becomes-international-celebrity/0LeY2Xw2f7pDrJdS9qOIcO/story.htm

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ASSIGNMENTS FOR TUESDAY NOV. 22, CONTINUED

• Read, “Grandma of toddler shot in Roxbury: ’I never thought I’d be in this position’” https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/10/16/after-year-old-shot-roxbury-grandmother-speaks-out/a1B9e1ylB4eN6PvpzANGFN/story.html

• Read, “Mother struggles with guilt after daughter shot in Roxbury” https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/10/20/never-been-through-anything-difficult-this/aNRpTPTuSQH4H1dl6VmnmK/story.html

• Be sure to read reader comments attached to the stories!

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