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Everyday Ethics
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Kelly McBride
Updates on ethical decision-making in newsrooms big and small, written by Poynter's
Kelly McBride
,
Bob Steele
and colleagues.
Obama on Kanye West: Is the President Ever Off-the-Record?
Posted by
Kelly McBride
at 12:52 PM on Sep. 15, 2009
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. ...
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Off-the-record is nothing but a way for cowards to attack...
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Sep. 4, 2009
AP Made Right Call in Publishing Photo, Story of Fallen Marine
Posted by
Bob Steele
at 6:43 PM on Sep. 4, 2009
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.
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Fallen Journalist
In keeping with AP's policy of telling the whole story...
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Sep. 3, 2009
Journalists Must Expose, Not Perpetuate, Bogus News
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.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009 Headlines
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Journalists Can't Uphold Standard Set by News Blackout of Rohde Kidnapping
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LA Times
Pitched NBC on 'Southland' Front Page Ad Concept
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New Photos from Dover Increase Awareness of War's Cost
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