Everyday Ethics

In the flap about ABC reporter Terry Moran's tweet about President Barack Obama calling Kanye West a jackass, most people are missing the point. It's not really about what Moran did. It's about whether the president of United States is ever off the record.

Watchdog reporters use "off-the-record" as a tool to protect sources with critical information of significant public importance. It means, "I won't attribute this information to you. Instead I will find another source or simply credit it to an anonymous source." Anonymity is most useful with a vulnerable whistle-blower who might get fired or suffer other significant punishment for releasing information. 

Off-the-record is a promise between a journalist and a source. Reporters go to jail in order to keep that promise.

In the Obama interview, a CNBC crew questioning the president fed audio and video to a pool of other journalists. ...

There is considerable controversy about the decision by the Associated Press to distribute a photograph of a Marine killed in combat in Afghanistan. I've written extensively about war coverage over the years, and I spoke with MSNBC on Friday about the news organization's decision in this case.

Based on what I know, the Associated Press went through a purposeful, thoughtful process in deciding to distribute this photo, and I believe that the AP's decision was journalistically sound and ethically justifiable.

Importantly, the Associated Press photo is accompanied by a substantive, sensitive AP story that recounts the battle in which Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard was wounded. That story also tells us a good deal about Bernard, including comments from his father and fellow Marines in his squad. Together, the story and the photograph paint a more complete picture of this fallen Marine.

Who knows how much bad information travels around the Internet on any given day. But when professional newsrooms become part of the problem, misinformation elevates from an annoyance to a danger to democracy.

In the past two weeks at least four Internet hoaxes have come to light that can be traced back to professional journalists deliberately creating false information, failing to vet their facts or passing along information that is clearly suspect.

It's an old problem for journalists with a few new twists. Old, because we've always had to be vigilant for the scam, whether the wild story or the fake obituary. New, because newsrooms with reduced staffs and increased workloads seem more vulnerable to frauds.