Ethics!

Hi friends! Thursday's class was all about ethics...

We formed groups of two and looked over a tough ethics case. Each group decided whether or not to print the story, wrote a lead and the presented their decision to the class.

CASE 1 - Ryan and Jenica
recap: The Arlington County Child Protection Services' husband failed to register as a sex offender when the family moved to Virginia. Off the record, the victim was his daughter.
Ryan and Jenica decided to print the story, but not include who the victim was. The class discussed whether the information about the daughter should be printed, since it will come out anyways.

CASE 2- Charlotte and Zach
recap: Popular Sheriff makes sexist comments during a public meeting and in an interview afterwards.
Charlotte and Zach decided to print the story.

CASE 3- Leah and Malcolm
recap: A well-known teacher is found dead from practicing autoerotic asphyxiation.
We decided to print a story about autoerotic asphyxiation in general. As a class, we decided to lead with the news about the teacher and then go on to write about autoerotic asphyxiation.

CASE 4- Wallis and Ryan
recap: A veteran firefighter died on the job, and the town and newspaper honored him. Later, it was discovered that he was drunk on the job, and the cops kept it a secret.
Wallis and Ryan decided to print the story.

CASE 5- Emma and Liesey
recap: Former FBI Director overheard talking about using the Patriot Act to question anyone he wanted.
Emma and Liesey decided to print the story. The class discussed if this was a violation of privacy.

CASE 6- Jialin and Jacob
recap: The paper writes a story about a family with a young daughter who has a rare form of cancer. Another family calls with a similar story and wants an article too.
Jialin and Jacob decided not to print the second story. The class discussed why the first story was newsworthy while the second wasn't.

CASE 7- Danielle and Shayna
recap: A veteran cop was shot on duty. It was suicide. The police are trying to cover it up so the family can receive the death benefit.
Daniella and Shayna decided to report the truth, but not lead with the fact that it was suicide.

CASE 8- Liz and Alex
recap: The first baby of the New Year was born to a mother who lives upstairs from her parents, is unemployed and on welfare.
Liz and Alex decided to print the story, focusing on the baby and not the mother's living situation. The class discussed whether or not the mother's situation was a story.

Presentation Tips:

• Giving good presentations is 55% body language, 38% voice and 7% words. Although words are very important, without a strong voice and body language the words are lost.
• Look at people's foreheads when you're thinking of what to say next.
• When reading from notes, look down to get your cue and then look up to speak.

Homework for next Thursday:

Come to class well acquainted with the story handout about Stefanie Ferguson.