Description
You are to write your essay on only one of the cases for Essay 1 and one
of the remaining 3 for Essay 2. In the first paragraph, describe the
dilemma you have, the situation you are in. In your essays, address the
questions posed following the scenario, but make it all flow as though
those questions are thoughts you have and know that they must be
considered in arriving at a solution to your journalistic dilemma. Do
not list the questions within your essay and then answer them
individually. You must fully justify the path you choose. In other
words, whether you choose a solution that is provided to you within the
case scenario or another one you have come up with on your own, you must
explain completely why you have made this choice. Refer to at least two
previously decided cases (precedents) as partial support for your
decision. Remember: The First Amendment is NOT a precedent. Do not start
off writing the scenario as it appears in this assignment simply to add
words to your essay. You must begin by briefly explaining the dilemma
you are facing. Remember: The reader of your paper doesn’t know what the
assignment is. Your paper must be submitted to Turn-ItIn by the
deadlines above to receive full credit. Do your own work. I have caught
many students plagiarizing the work of previous students, and it did not
end well. Turn-It-In has all papers submitted for this assignment for
the past six years in its repository, and I have them, also.
Specifications: Use this list as your checklist before you submit
through Turn-It-In! Points will be taken off if you do not follow this
checklist! You must write this on your own. This is not a group project!
____ 650–900 words (This is a firm minimum and maximum number of
words—not one word fewer nor one word more.) ____ 12-pt. Times New
Roman, double spaced ____ 1-inch margins on all four sides of page ____
Contact info and name in header on every page; you MUST include your
email address!! ____ Indent paragraphs ½ inch with NO extra spacing
between paragraphs ____ Include page numbers ____ Do not submit PDFs. I
cannot correct them. _____ Include a reference/bibliography section. The
cases follow: Case 1 How much information should you report? THE
SCENARIO: You are a reporter for a local newspaper. You come back to the
office one day to find several staff members discussing this story: Two
teenagers have been killed in an automobile accident. The driver, who
survived, had been drinking prior to the accident. The two girls in the
back seat, both of whom were killed, were nude at the time of the
accident. 2 Your colleague, another reporter, is pushing for all the
known facts to be reported. But the editor argues that the fact of the
girls’ nudity should not be revealed; he claims that such information
will just be an additional insult to their parents, who already are
suffering from the girls’ deaths. Ask: Do you have a right to publish:
The fact that the driver was drinking? The fact that the girls were nude
at the time of the accident? Would it be responsible to publish these
facts in reporting the accident? Brainstorm ALONE about things to
consider in deciding whether to report this information: Do we have all
the facts? Has anyone interviewed the survivor? Does the newspaper have a
policy on printing names of sexual-assault victims? Will publishing the
information help anyone else? Case 2 Detachment or involvement? THE
SCENARIO: You are a reporter for a large urban daily. The paper plans a
major series on poverty. Your editor assigns you to do an in-depth piece
on the effects of poverty on children, with special emphasis on what
happens when drug addiction becomes part of the story. You have
identified several families willing to be subjects for the story. Three
families agree to be photographed — and identified — and you spend four
months with them, visiting their homes every day and observing what goes
on. You tell them your job is to be an observer — a “fly on the wall” —
so you can gather information for this important series. In one home,
you watch as a mother allows her three-year-old daughter to go hungry
for 24 hours. You see this same child living in a filthy room, stepping
on broken glass and sleeping on a urine-soaked mattress. You know the
mother is HIV-positive and you watch as she brushes her daughter’s teeth
with the same toothbrush she uses. You see the mother hit the child
with full force. You see the little girl about to bite on an electrical
cord. Her plight haunts you. What do you do to satisfy both your
conscience and your responsibilities as a reporter? A. Report the mother
to the authorities so the girl will be removed from this environment
and placed in a foster home. Then write the story. B. Write the story
first, detailing your observations. After the story has been published,
notify the authorities, giving the mother’s address. 3 C. Write the
story, but don’t identify the mother or child to police or social
service authorities. Remember, you are a reporter. You’ve put the
information in the newspaper. It’s not your job to act as a police
officer. D. Your own solution to the dilemma. Case 3 To what lengths
should you go to get a story? THE SCENARIO: You are a correspondent for a
major television network. Your producers have done a great deal of
research about a national grocery chain; they allege that some of its
grocery stores are asking employees to participate in unsanitary
food-handling practices. This is an important story. Consumers may get
sick if they eat tainted food, you argue, and they have a right to know
that a food store is not handling its food in a safe manner. You want to
make sure this story airs on national television. You believe that to
get good footage you have to go into the store with cameras and film the
store’s workers actually engaging in unsafe practices. You need proof.
As the television correspondent, how will you get your story? A. Call
the store manager and request an on-site interview, with cameras.
Explain that you have some information that consumers will want to know
about and give the store a chance to show its side of the story. B. Just
appear at the store one day, without advance notice to the manager.
That way you won’t tip off the staff that you’re onto a story. C.
Pretend to be looking for a job in the store; complete an employment
application and actually get hired. Then, while you’re at work, use
hidden cameras to document the unsafe practices you see. D. Your own
solution to the dilemma. Be specific. Case 4 Will a negative story be
allowed to run in a high school newspaper? THE SCENARIO: As a high
school journalist, you have developed several sources of information
about the football camp held each year at your school. You hear that
brutal hazing is part of athletes’ initiation to 4 the team.
Investigating further, you learn that new players are subject to various
humiliations and assaults, sometimes with broomsticks, electrical cords
and socks stuffed with tennis balls. This is a big, important story.
Kids are being hurt. You work hard to get your facts right and spend a
great deal of effort checking and double-checking your sources. Your
newspaper’s adviser supports you and your work. But when you are ready
to publish the story in the school newspaper, the principal says you
can’t run it unless you make substantial changes. You must eliminate a
player’s comments and add a prepared statement from the football coach.
The coach also says this is “negative journalism” and wants you to hold
the story until after the playoffs. What do you do? A. Drop the story.
You know you’ve done a good job, but if the principal won’t let you run
the story as you have prepared it, you won’t run it at all. B. Wait
until after the playoffs, as the coach requests, and then print the
story according to the principal’s requirements: Drop the player’s
comments and run the football coach’s statement. At least some of the
information you have uncovered will come out. C. Print the story as your
principal demands, by dropping the player’s comments and running the
football coach’s statement. But add an editor’s note at the end of the
story, explaining that school officials, including the coach, reviewed
the story and insisted that changes be made to it before it was
published. D. Your own solution to the dilemma. Be specific
