Hiya Ethics!
I’m emailing a day early because UMass is “upgrading” faculty email today, and we’ll be without service for some time. I want to make sure I get Tuesday’s work to you, so here you go.
Should journalists ever lie to get a story? Attached is a short outline on Deception that tells you under what circumstances reporters can be dishonest in service of a greater good. Once you read the outline and the assigned reading (NPR and Shafer), take a look at the story described below.
A three-year undercover Newsday investigation found that real estate agents on Long Island systematically discriminated against minorities who wanted to purchase houses. The paper had 25 undercover testers trained, went to 93 real estate agents and secretly recorded 240 hours-worth of meetings involving 5,700 house listings.
The findings: widespread unequal treatment by agents in 19% of conversations involving Asians, 39% involving Hispanics and 49% involving Blacks. The project includes the hidden camera videos and impactful graphics.
From Editor Deborah Henley’s note:
Newsday shares the findings with you our readers to help illuminate an American ideal that is powerful in its simplicity — everyone deserves a fair shot at making a better life. That is a cornerstone to creating a stronger, more inclusive and more tolerant place to live for all of us.
After you read the article, including the editor’s note on how it was reported, your assignment is to determine if this Newsday investigation meets the test for journalists’ undercover reporting. List the three points on your outline, assess them one by one and tell me what you think in half a page.
Assignment due: 10 a.m. Thursday, April 23
Thursday’s discussion will be on the ethics of Photojournalism.
Hope you’re doing well!
All best,
k
Journalism Ethics: The Responsible Journalist 