Discussion 1 and 2 Response to Classmates

ThursdayJan 11 at 7:45pm

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As a journalist, we are obligated to tell the truth without any bias, and until the full truth is discovered then we can only report what we know. The secretary stated that upon returning from lunch she noticed that over $3000 was missing. I believe although this is her personal account, as a journalist it needs to be proven that there was in fact $3000. Although, I’m sure that there were offerings from the church, there still is no sure way of knowing the amount just from one person’s account. Secondly, the neighbor’s account can only be taken as speculation. Although losing a job is a tragedy, it doesn’t make someone a thief. This couldn’t be reported, without proof and without revealing sources. With, if the authorities who are investigating the crime has no suspects, I would not name the custodian as a suspect based off hearsay. Having the obligation to avoid falsehoods, it’s our obligation to investigate before reporting. For this story, I would not investigate the neighbor simply because there is no proof of what he is stating. Also, I do not know the relationship between the neighbor and the custodian. It could be possible that the neighbor has motive against the custodian as well. However, I would interview the secretary, considering she is the person who reported the money missing. Therefore, she could possibly provide a timeline on the events as well as the recent events in the church. I would also quote her account of what happened, in hopes that this will assist in the development of the story.

References:

Jacquette, D.(2007)Journalistic Ethics:Moral Responsiblity in the media.Upper Saddle River,New Jersey.Pearson Education Inc.