Discussion 1 and 2 Response to Classmates

ThursdayJan 11 at 12:09pm

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In this situation, given that there is not much information to go on, I would avoid saying there is a suspect considering I was not told by the police or a first-hand witness to the crime. Our text states that “It is morally obligatory for journalists to the best of their abilities to counteract the effects of bias and consider the impact of perspective, predisposition, and other factors that can affect truth-telling in reporting the news, and, again, to the best of their abilities, to overcome these and other frequently encountered obstacles to truth-telling in journalism. Journalists are morally responsible for being aware of the extent to which any and all such factors can affect the truthfulness of their reporting and taking steps to identify and counteract them”( Jacquette,2007). Considering this, the neighbor may have a bias toward the person he is accusing and his accusations may or may not be true, which if published would be pure speculation. As a journalist, it is our ethical responsibility to report the facts and confirm all information that we receive through the appropriate channels. The moral considerations that should be looked into would be to consider the history of the Neighbor and the person that he accused of the crime, do they know each other? Does the neighbor even attend the church? These are questions that I would ask the secretary, but I still would omit that there was a suspect since I was not told that there was a suspect by the police. I would not interview the neighbor because he has no direct connection to the story and interviewing him would not progress my story any further. furthermore, Including his statement even if I did not give a name, would result in dishonest reporting, not to mention adding the name could result in a defamation suit.

Jacquette, D. (2007). Journalistic ethics: Moral responsibility in the media. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.