Ideally, it means producing comprehensive, thoughtful analyses of candidates' positions on economic growth, health care, education, defense, the environment, and so on."
There is, however, a story that became the political issue when Senator Berry's public life, for whatever, became entangled in the lives of not one, but five of his staff people; all women, and all with similar accounts of allegations of a criminal nature. It is not in discord with the ethics of professional journalism to report on this story. That the allegations involve a public officer, whose behavior is incompatible with that of a publicly elected official, and, if the charges are substantiated, are criminal in nature, in which case much more than the Senator's office would be at stake. It is the responsibility of the journalist reporting the case to publish the fact of that form the basis of the allegations against the senator, especially since the senator has refused comment.
That the senator has refused comment is not an admission of guilt, because the nature of the case becomes very complex, even if the senator innocent. Should he comment, his comments could incriminate him, and be used against him. Legally it is in his best interest not to comment on the allegations that have been made against him.
The reporter should report the details of the case, but he should also be careful to refrain from using the names of the women whom have requested their identities not be revealed. He should also remark that the senator refused to comment, but should not go into any description of what he, as a reporter, perceived the senator's state of mind to be, or quote his use of profanity. Even though the profanity is a fact, it is not relevant to the allegations, and it has no news value.
By reporting on just the fact, the reporter does not risk judging, or influencing the reader by interjecting his or her own interpretation of the facts, and making that interpretation become the story. When a reporter reports the fact, it allows the reader the discretion to arrive at their own conclusions. If the reporter has...
Thus, the media hunted for items, building a case against Hatfill, in essence creating news rather than reporting it. Better balanced could have been easily provided by giving Hatfill and the FBI investigators more voice. In order to prevent this from happening again, guidelines could be put into place. The first guideline would be to conduct an independent investigation into all details, including those gleaned from other news outlets. It
Fox, R.F. (2001, November). Warning Advertising May Be Hazardous to Your Health: Ads Pose a Threat to Physical, Emotional, Social, and Cultural Well-Being. USA Today, Volume 130, Issue 2678, 62. The author discusses different types of advertising and promotion and finds ethical problems in the way many are handled, especially with reference to advertising and promoting goods and services to children. He cites the use of focus groups for toy companies
Johnson and Johnson issued a public relations response immediately naming their number one priority: to aggressively protect any consumer from the potential hazards that may be present in any of their family of products. Symptoms of the Problem -- Quickly, the crisis reached epic nationwide coverage. The panic that ensued, somewhat as the result of the twenty-four hour media coverage, fueled this panic into a frenzy. One hospital in Chicago,
Professional Ethics Issue: The case where the professional ethics issue arises is a situation in which the commended obligation for journalists to safeguard the confidentiality of their sources conflict with their supposed duty to help legal authorities in the quest for justice. As a notable case, Time's Matthew Cooper and New York Times' Judith Miller are facing an ethical dilemma with two major options. First, these journalists are faced with the
The "chill effect" also comes into operation and hence provides some degree of protection to newspapers and reporters. However in this particular case, the court ruled in favor of the celebrity believing that Jones career had been damaged due to the publication of 1979 libelous story. The court believed that since the newspaper enjoyed heavy circulation and hence readership in the state of California, a resident of that state could
DNA in Criminal Cases - Solving Cold Cases in California with Forensic Science This research will attempt to analyze and discuss the feasibility of DNA testing in solving cold cases and will study the impact that DNA fingerprinting has had on the forensic science community as a whole. DNA is generally used to solve crimes in one of two ways. In cases where a suspect is identified, a sample of that person's
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