Chapter 14: Making News Decisions AboutPrivacy
Ethical Issues in Privacy Cases
Louis W. Hodges, “The journalist and privacy,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 1994, Vol. 9 Issue 4, p197. Offers guidelines for reporting on the private lives of different categories ofpeople in the news. (Academic databases)
Bob Steele, “Respecting privacy guidelines,” poynteronline,July 1, 1999.
Christopher Meyers, “Justifying journalistic harms: Right to know vs. interest in knowing,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 1993, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p133. Contends that journalists often confuse having a right to know with having an interest or curiosity in knowing.(Academic databases)
Russell B. Williams, “Ethical reasoning in television news: Privacy and AIDS testing, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 1995, Vol. 10 Issue 2, p109. Examines ethical reasoning in television journalism using a computer simulation of a situation involving privacy at an AIDS testing site.(Academic databases)
Wendell Cochran, “Computers, privacy, and journalists: A suggested code of information practices,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 1996, Vol. 11 Issue 4, p210. Discusses the role of journalists in handling private information contained in electronic databases. (Academic databases)
Sigman Splichal and Bruce Garrison, “Covering public officials: Gender and privacy issue differences. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 2000, Vol. 15 Issue 3,167-179. Reports on two national studies (in 1993 and 1999) of daily newspaper newsroom managers and their views about coverage of the private lives of politicians and political candidates. (Academic databases)
“Journalism After Diana,” Columbia Journalism Review, November 1997. Reviews the changing standards of journalists in covering the private lives of famous people and people in power.
(Academic databases)
Publishing the Addresses of PennState Protesters
Diana Jean Schemo, “PennState students end sit-in over threats against blacks,” The New York Times, May 4, 2001.
Ordinary People Thrust Into the News
Robert J. Haiman, Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists (Arlington, Virginia: The Freedom Forum’s Free Press/Fair Press Project, 2000), 29. You can download the book here:
Victims of Sex Crimes
Kelly McBride, “Rethinking rape coverage,” Quill, October/November 2002. (Academic databases)
M. D. Arant Jr., “Press identification of victims of sexual assault: Weighing privacy and constitutional concerns,” Journalism Quarterly, Spring/Summer91, Vol. 68 Issue 1/2, p238-252.Considers legal issues in identifying sexual assault victims in the media and efforts to prevent their identification. (Academic databases)
Jay Black, “Rethinking the naming of sex crime victims,” Newspaper Research Journal, Vol. 16, No. 3, Summer 1995. (Academic databases)
On Oct. 22, 2004, the Poynter Institute posted resources on this question: “To name or not: Decision-making resources.” This came at a time when newsrooms were discussing whether toidentify the woman who had filed a civil suit accusing Kobe Bryant of rape. The filing of the suit placed her real name in public records.
Politicians’ Private Lives
Alicia C. Shepard, “Gatekeepers without gates,” American Journalism Review, March 1999.
Is Larry Flynt America's assignment editor? Or are there ways new organizations can make responsible decisions in today's frenzied freewheeling media world?
Lee Wilkins, “Journalists and the character of public officials/figures,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 1994, Vol. 9 Issue 3,157. Provides journalists with an ethical rationale for covering political character while acknowledging the human need for privacy; outlines character-related issues that journalists should explore. (Academic databases)
Candace Cummins Gauthier, “Privacy invasion by the news media: Three ethical models,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 2002, Vol. 17 Issue 1, 20-34. Providesan overview of philosophical conceptions of privacy and suggests three models to assist with the ethical analysis of privacy invasion by the news media. (Academic databases)
Daniel Riffe, “Public opinion about news coverage of leaders’ private lives,” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 2003, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p98. This survey found that most Ohio residents believe job performance can be affected by what goes on in private lives, but most don’t believe scrutiny of private matters is a media responsibility. (Academic databases)
Leonard Downie Jr. and Robert G. Kaiser, The News About the News (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002), 56-62. The decision not to publish a story about Bob Dole during the 1996 presidential campaign.
Larry J. Sabato, Feeding Frenzy: How Attack Journalism Has Transformed American Politics (New York: The Free Press, 1991).
Kelly McBride, “Thresholds of coverage: When to say he’s gay,” Aug. 30, 2007.
In the fall of 2006, when a gay activist and radio show host claimed that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was secretly gay, newsrooms around the country agonized over how and what to cover.
The John Edwards case:
Rhonda Schwartz, Brian Ross, and Chris Francescani, “Edwards admits sexual affair; lied as presidential candidate,” Aug. 8, 2008. Video of the ABC interview with Edwards.
Michael Getler, “The Edwards confession: unfit for NewsHour viewers?” Aug. 13, 2008.
Russell Adams and Shira Ovide, “Mainstream media notes Enquirer scoop,” The Wall Street Journal Online, Aug. 11, 2008. Discusses the traditional news media's late arrival to the story of former Sen John Edward’s extramarital affair.
Clark Hoyt, “Sometimes, there’s news in the gutter,” The New York Times, Aug. 10, 2008.
Reviews coverage of John Edwards affair.
Tom Scocca, “Tabloid trash – or treasure?”, The Washington Post, May 10, 2009.
Suicides
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, “Reporting on suicide: Recommendations for the Media,”
Juveniles Accused of Crimes
Al Tompkins, “Identifying juveniles,” poynteronline, Feb. 29, 2000.
Kelly McBride, “Two editors, one 12-year-old charged with murder,” poynteronline, Jan. 24, 2003.
Relatives of the Prominent
CNN.com., “Roger Clinton now target of pardon probe,” Feb. 23, 2001.
Viva Novak and Michael Weisskopf, “New questions about Roger Clinton’s slippery schemes,” Time.com, June 30, 2001.
Society of Professional Journalists news release, “SPJ urges ethical reporting of First Family’s personal lives,”June 1, 2001.
Reporting Based on Social Networking Sites
Jason Spencer, “Found in (My)Space,” American Journalism Review, October/November 2007, 36-39. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are valuable sources of information for journalists.
Butch Ward, “From MySpace post to NYT quote,” May 21, 2007.
Public Records Databases
Pete Weitzel, Nora Paul and Debra Gersh Hernandez, “The fascinating world of forgotten information,” a report for the American Society of News Editors, © 2010. The databases permit both critical and trivial pursuit of information. Links to the full report on PDF.
Case Study No. 14: Revealing Arthur Ashe’s Secret
Peter Prichard, “Arthur Ashe’s pain is shared by public and press,” USA Today, April 13, 1992, A11. (News databases)
“Readers react to privacy issue, newspaper’s role in Ashe story,” USA Today, April 13, 1992, C2. (News databases)
Cindy Shmerler, “Friends kept secret 3 years,” USA Today, April 9, 1992, C3. (News databases)
Rachel Shuster, “Arthur Ashe 1943-1993; Ashe legacy goes beyond sports, race,” USA Today, Feb. 8, 1993, C1. (News databases)
Peter Vecsey, “Rumors fly about Magic, but the motives are selfish,” USA Today, Nov. 12, 1991, C6. (News databases)
DeWayne Wickham, “Stop the Voyeurism and gossip-peddling,” USA Today,April 13, 1992, A11. (News databases)
Gene Policinski, “The Arthur Ashe AIDS story is news: And like it or not, it is our job to pursue news stories,” The Bulletin of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, July/August 1992, 17. (Academic databases)
Case Study No. 15: Identifying a 13-Year-Old Rape Victim
Dan Gigler, “CraftonHeights girl, 13, missing,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 3, 2002.(News databases)
Johnna A. Pro, “Teen’s parents fear Internet link in disappearance,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 4, 2002. (News databases)
Dennis B. Roddy and Jon Schmitz, “Suspect Scott Tyree: ‘A classic long-haired computer guy’,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 5, 2002.(News databases)
Eleanor Chute, “Girl reunited with grateful parents who ‘feel blessed’,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 6, 2002.(News databases)
Sally Kalson, “Alicia’s web sites pose a very disturbing question,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 9, 2002.(News databases)
John G. Craig Jr., “To name or not to name: Sex-crime cases pose a privacy concern,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 20, 2002.(News databases)
Jill Geisler, “You can’t unring a bell, but you can stop ringing it,” March 16, 2000.
Nicole Weisensee Egan, “Abducted, enslaved – and now talking about it,” People, April 16, 2007.
Additional Case Studies
Tracing the source of a web comment:This is two cases in one. An anonymous posting on The Plain Dealer’s website, cleveland.com, was traced by the newsroom staff to the email address of a judge. Should the journalists have traced the source? As the newsroom investigation continued, the email address was found to be the source of more than 80 comments since 2007 – including prejudicial comments about cases in the judge’s court. One of the cases involved, a murder case, was pending at the time. Should the public be told? [See separate file in this folder.]
The fall of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal: The American field commander in Afghanistan lost his job after he and his staff were quoted in a Rolling Stone article as making disparaging remarks about the Obama administration. McChrystal had given unfettered access to reporter Michael Hastings. Link to the text of Hastings’ article dated June 22, 2010:
- Andrew Bast, “How Rolling Stone got into McChrystal’s inner circle,” Newsweek, June 22, 2010.
- David Wood, “Afghanistan Journal: Why I wouldn’t have written the McChrystal story,” Politics Daily, July 3, 2010.
- Barry Sussman, “Was it the four-letter words, used over and over, that brought down McChrystal?” Nieman Watchdog, June 28, 2010.
- David Carr, “McChrystal’s quality time with Rolling Stone: Impertinent? Check. Insubordinate: Maybe not.”, The New York Times’ Media Decoder blog, June 27, 2010.
- Walter Shapiro, “Rolling Stone McChrystal profile: The end of fly-on-the-wall reporting?”, Politics Daily, June 24, 2010.
Moving next door to a story subject: Jack Shafer, “Joe McGinnnis gets old-school with Sarah Palin: In defense of a journalist’s stalking of a politician,” Slate, May 26, 2010.The author Joe McGinnis raises a question of invasion of privacy by renting the house next door to Sarah Palin’s family in Wasilla, Alaska. The house is McGinnis’ base for researching and writing a book about the former Alaska governor.
A question of sexual orientation: Mallary Jean Tenore, “Why 5th Estate addresses Kagan’s sexual orientation and mainstream media ignore it,” poynteronline, May 13, 2010. “Many are questioning whether the Supreme Court nominee, who has kept her personal life private, is a lesbian.” (Definitions are in order. Tenore’s discussion uses the terms Fourth Estate and Fifth Estate. Journalists have long been referred to as the Fourth Estate – the others are executive, legislative, and judicial – and the Fourth Estate in the Internet era is becoming better known as “the mainstream media.” The term Fifth Estate has been gaining currency as a reference refer to citizen bloggers.)
Is this fact relevant?: “Grieving Over News,” in The Newspaper Credibility Handbook by Michele McLellan, with a discussion guide by Bob Steele, published in 2001 by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, 133-137.When a couple were killed in an explosion at their home, should the husband’s conviction have been mentioned in the news coverage?
The governor’s daughter: Kelly McBride, “Noelle Bush and the Orlando Sentinel,” poynteronline, Nov. 13, 2002. Explores coverage of legal proceedings in a case involving the daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Tragic details: A teenager from Missoula, Montana, was murdered in downtown Washington, D.C. Now the local paper has a story from The Washington Post detailing the girl’s life as a prostitute. What should the editor do? Clifford Christians, Kim Rotzoll, Mark Fackler, Kathy Brittain-McKee, Robert H. Woods Jr., Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, 7th Edition (Boston: Pearson Education Inc., 2005), 113-116.