Ethics in the eye of the storm
Keep your live coverage error-free
Queens, N.Y., Nov. 1, 2012 — FEMA Community Relations (CR) team members moved through Breezy Point and Rockaway, NY, after Hurricane Sandy. The CR members talked with disaster survivors about FEMA assistance and assessed the situation on the ground. Photo by Walt Jennings/FEMA
by Megan Fromm
When Hurricane Sandy hit the United States early last week, citizens turned to Twitter for a constant stream of information. The hashtag #Sandy provided hundreds of live perspectives each minute, including photos of the impending storm and subsequent devastation.
For those covering the story live, the storm spawned an entirely new lexicon of descriptors (“Frankenstorm” among the most widely-used) and created an ethical dilemma all-too-common in today’s instant media environment: How to sort the fact from the fiction?
Even today, a week out from the storm’s landfall, fake images from New York and New Jersey are still making the rounds on social and professional media outlets.
Would your students know which photos were real, and which were fake? Have your students take this quiz, and then use the following information to further consider the importance of verifying information as it is shared in real-time.
This Atlantic article is among the best sources we found for updating Sandy images as they are verified (or debunked) and is a great starting point for a larger discussion with your journalism students and scholastic journalists:
• Did your students retweet or repost any of these images? Which ones?
• How many followed the Hurricane Sandy hashtag? Did they make any attempts to verify the information they were receiving? Why/why not?
Minors as subjects of sensitive topics
*Editor’s note: This is the second of a series of rotating columns by commission members to appear Wednesdays. Megan Fromm will present best practices for teaching ethics; Jeff Kocur will discuss common problems student leaders and advisers face and how to overcome them; Candace Perkins Bowen will examine journalistic ties to Common Core standards; Mark Goodman will write about current events and impact on law as it affects scholastic media and Marina Hendricks will address ethical issues and online journalism.
by Jeff Kocur
When my students told me they wanted to write a story about a transgender student, my first thought was. “Here we go again.”
After last year’s series of controversial topics such as fighting, teen pregnancy, hazing, race, and other issues that raised the ire of my admin, simply because of their topics, I was ready for at least one issue that didn’t push the envelope.
But that isn’t really journalism.
Read MoreConstitution Day learning materials, part 2:
Journalism ethics hypotheticals
by Kelly Furnas
In honor of Constitution Day, JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission provides these hypothetical ethical dilemmas for you and your staff to discuss and debate. Each answer is then discussed via video by a member of the SPRC once you have completed the quiz.
Read MoreConstitution Day 2012 lessons
Constitution Day Lesson Plans for Sept. 17, 2012
The Scholastic Press Rights Commission works to provide information and resources on legal and ethical issues to journalism students, teachers and administrators. SPRC members also work to promote the First Amendment rights of students across the nation. It is a commission of the Journalism Education Association.
Our Constitution Day lesson plans provided here are designed to help students celebrate the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as mandated by Congress. Legislation requires schools to offer lessons on the Constitution and how it affects all Americans. Our lesson plans emphasize the First Amendment and particularly the freedoms of speech and the press. We’ve also included the applicable Common Core standards for most of the lessons.
Read MoreThe importance of context: A lesson on ethics and editing
Last week, NBC officials bore the brunt of an outraged public when the Today Show played a poorly edited 9-1-1 tape from the Trayvon Martin shooting investigation. The tape, some argued, unfairly portrayed Zimmerman as racist. This lesson explores the ethics of proper editing as well as the journalistic mandate that context never be sacrificed for brevity.
Lesson plan by Megan Fromm
Lesson Time: 25-30 minutes
Materials: computer lab/group internet access for research, white board, projection capabilities (or you can make copies of materials for students)
PART I:
First, discuss the background of the Martin/Zimmerman case. What information do students already know? What “facts” do they need to research and verify?
1. Create a class list on the white board of all the “facts” students believe they know about the case.
2.In groups of 2-3, students should take 5-10 minutes to research and verify or discredit one of the facts.
3. Bring the class back together, and make a list of verified facts on the white board, including the sources where students got the information.
Now, as a class, listen to the NBC version of the 9-1-1 tapes. Here is a link for the audio: (Pause at 10 seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf_AtDnVhyA
Instruct students to write down any assumptions they might draw about the case from listening to this 911 tape.
Then, play the unabridged 9-1-1 tapes, also found here: (continue playing from 00:10)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf_AtDnVhyA
Discuss whether the assumptions created from the edited tapes were supported in the original audio. Ask the following:
Did the second segment tell a different story? What was different? Was there more or less context? Why do you think NBC edited the 911 tape the way they did? How many seconds long was the edited version? How long was the original version?
PART II:
As a class, take a look at some of the reaction to the NBC audio:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/nbc-to-do-internal-investigation-on-zimmerman-segment/2012/03/31/gIQAc4HhnS_blog.html
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/10/3546575/commentary-today-show-should-do.html
For an interesting twitter feed screen-capture with responses:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/nbc-news-president-speaks-out-on-zimmerman-tape-scandal/2012/04/09/gIQAQ0iw5S_blog.html
Now, back in their groups (or as a class if you can project the internet onto a screen), have students search for the original NBC statement of apology, issued by NBC president to Reuters news service.
Can anyone find it? Is it on the Today Show’s homepage?
Can you find it on msnbc.com, NBC’s online news outlet?
What about at nbc.com?
Is it acceptable that the original statement is so hard to find? What do you think this says to readers/viewers?
How prominent should the statement be if the original mistake has gone viral?
Here’s a synopsis of the statement (you can also finish playing the youtube video from earlier, which shows a quote from the apology):
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/08/us-usa-florida-shooting-nbc-idUSBRE83609U20120408
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/nbc-issues-apology-on-zimmerman-tape-screw-up/2012/04/03/gIQA8m5jtS_blog.html
Some further ethical questions to consider:
• Is it ever OK to edit a 9-1-1 tape?
• How should we give readers/viewers/listeners access to the full content?
• What type of information is it OK to cut from audio?
• Do we tell our readers/viewers/listeners that we have edited parts out?
• How do we ensure that an edited slice of audio reflects the factual and contextual information our audience would get if they heard the whole thing?
• What is the appropriate way to correct a mistake of this magnitude?
• If you were the editor in charge, how would you handle this? How would you handle the apology and statement?
PART III:
Finally, as a class, read the Radio Television News Directors Association Code of Ethics, and highlight and discuss the parts that discuss context and accuracy. Did NBC act ethically according to this guide?
http://www.rtnda.org/pages/media_items/code-of-ethics-and-professional-conduct48.php
Read More