You are interviewing a high government
official about her involvement in a bribery
scheme, when she is called out of her office.
While alone, you notice some documents on
her desk that appear to be related to your
investigation.
Would you read them? Take them? Ask her
about them when she returns?
CONSENSUS : I would read as much as I could off of them before she got back and then ask her about them. I would admit that I had noticed them while she was gone and that I would like an explanation. If she left them on her desk in plain view it wouldn't be my fault that I happened to notice them!
Scenario 2
Conditions at a local nursing home are
known to be substandard. It’s privately
owned, and efforts to gain admittance or
information have failed.
Your editor asks you to get a job as an
orderly and write a story based on your
first-hand experiences.
Would you do it? Why or why not?
CONSENSUS: Yes I would. I would be honest on my application to work at the nursing home though. If the nursing home hired me and I happened to notice that patients were being maltreated while on the job, whose to stop me from reporting the place to the authorities or write an article about my experiences? As long as you go about it honestly you shouldn't get into too much trouble in the aftermath!
Scenario 3
You are writing a feature story and
find some excellent quotes about your
subject from another written source.
–May you use those quotes as if you
obtained them yourself, or must you
credit the other written source?
–What if you obtained the quotes from a
web site?
Conditions at a local nursing home are
known to be substandard. It’s privately
owned, and efforts to gain admittance or
information have failed.
Your editor asks you to get a job as an
orderly and write a story based on your
first-hand experiences.
Would you do it? Why or why not?
CONSENSUS: Yes I would. I would be honest on my application to work at the nursing home though. If the nursing home hired me and I happened to notice that patients were being maltreated while on the job, whose to stop me from reporting the place to the authorities or write an article about my experiences? As long as you go about it honestly you shouldn't get into too much trouble in the aftermath!
Scenario 3
You are writing a feature story and
find some excellent quotes about your
subject from another written source.
–May you use those quotes as if you
obtained them yourself, or must you
credit the other written source?
–What if you obtained the quotes from a
web site?
CONSENSUS: If they were excellent quotes I would use them, but give credit to the other source. I wouldn't use them overwhelmingly in my article though. If I found them on a website I would use them only if the website was my sources own, personal site. For example, if I was writing an article on Mary Roach I wouldn't think twice about quoting something she wrote herself on her own website. I would also definately mention where I found it.
Be careful on #2. If you're still employed by a news organization when you do this, you could still face misrepresentation lawsuits. It's better to find other sources of information (e.g., former patients, their families, public records, etc.).
ReplyDelete13.5/15