A DIY Quandary of Journalistic Ethics

There is a great deal of thought and preparation that should go into presenting the news. Examining the scenarios on the ONA websitefound at https://ethics.journalists.org/q/fundamentals/ has provided me with as many questions as I found answers. Trying to find a balance between truth, titillation, taboo, in the trek for trophies is not as easy as it sounds. Do ethics trump the dark desires of sponsors? Do you sell your soul to gain notoriety? These are only a few of the confounding questions that one battles with when they strive to tell a story.

Dealing with Bombs and Other Threats is one facet that an outlet will need to consider. On one hand if you report it first you might capture the most readers driving up your numbers. Then should it be a false alarm? Do you post an apology or just classify it as a cost of doing business waiting for something else to capture the public's attention? Then do you wait until you can determine its validity? What if it is real and your inaction leads to people dying? I envision a hybrid approach as you race to determine the threat level, consulting with authorities and act on a case by case basis. 

The unfortunate truth is that there are times when a Child is the alleged offender or a victim. As a father, how to handle this is a quagmire. Are there different rules for children? Do you need a parent's permission to talk to a minor like Law Enforcement? The story is important, but my personal feeling is that the news media should err on the side of caution. I feel that unless it is the most egregious of circumstances, pictures, names, locations and exact details need to be held back or written about generally or using handles. The public definitely must be made aware, but the privacy of children should be protected at all costs. 

Hostage Situations are newsworthy and many reporters have made a name for themselves in their coverage of events. Thinking critically about this leaves a lot to debate about. As an organization do you communicate with the hostage takers? Do you broadcast hostages held, injured or killed? What if Law Enforcement asks you to lie to the takers, should journalists be complicit pawns? This is another of the ethical choices a news organization needs to make. My opinion is that I would listen to the advice of the authorities, balance it with providing the truth to our viewers while using our best judgment on blurring graphic images of the event or messages from the hostage takers.  

The last example I will address of journalistic ethical do’s and do not's will be the most famous in regard to the news media, Confidential Sources. There is a great deal to look at when swimming in this pond, I will try and give you my playbook for handling this. First, can I fact check at least an important chunk of the information to determine its credibility? This will help me during my interview as I look to see if ‘Deep Throat’ is just dishing to handle a beef and if his reluctance or eagerness is earnest. I would do the best Doxx I could on the source as well which would help me decide how much I would put on the line for them. I would not be looking forward to a trip to jail. Lastly if I wade into this deep end, I will want to make sure we have secure lines of communication. While burners and encryption sound very nice, my experience running a VPN company has shown the government is a lot craftier than the average hacker, many of whom they employ. I would go old school spy bringing back OSS codes and dead drops.