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Journalism Ethics: The Global Debate other way that he could have gotten their stories? Could Smith have told the story without talking to a victim? What would his story have lost in that case? 2. How far can a reporter go in a case like this? Would it be acceptable for a reporter to have sex with a woman who is a victim of trafficking in order to fool her captors into believing he is just an ordinary client? Was it acceptable for Smith to disrobe while interviewing the victims? 3. Is it ever right for a journalist to put someone’s life at risk in order to report a story that may help keep other people from being put into similar situations? 4. In general, journalists should identify the sources in their story as fully as possible so that readers, listeners or viewers can be certain that the people are real and so that they can better judge the truth of what the sources are saying. But in the case of crime victims, is it acceptable to withhold the identities of the victims? Should it be the choice of the victim? What about a sex worker who is not the victim of a crime but is simply trying to earn a living— should a reporter withhold her identity? 5. How should a reporter handle situations in which he or she encounters someone in danger? Does he or she have a responsibility to try to get that person out of danger, or should he or she simply act as a reporter, alerting the public to the fact that people are in danger? 6. If a reporter “crosses a line” and tries to help a victim of a crime, can he or she still report the story objectively? Must the reporter reveal to readers or viewers the role that he or she played in helping the subject of the story? 7. A common ethical quandary that is posed to journalism students is the case of the reporter or photographer who comes across an accident scene. Must the journalist drop his or her notebook or camera and help the victims, or is it acceptable for a journalist to continue reporting or shooting photos? Why? Case Study: El Salvador The Sins of the Fathers The children orphaned during El Salvador’s long civil war lost far more than their parents, killed by the military for being leftist rebels, for sympathizing with them or simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In many cases, those children also lost their names and their identities. Military officials took the children of the people they killed and sold them for adoption in the United States and Europe. In some cases, the military leaders themselves adopted the children they had orphaned. Many years after the war ended, journalist Orsy Campos Rivas had the evidence of what happened. He was left with a wrenching dilemma. Should he reveal the names of those military leaders and the children they adopted, International Center for Journalists
Case Studies: Freedom and Responsibility forever changing the lives of youngsters who had no idea of their real origin? Or should he protect the identities of the victims, allowing the sins of their adoptive parents to go unrevealed and unpunished? Campos Rivas worked for the magazine Hablemos (Let’s Talk), a publication of the newspaper El Diario de Hoy. He had all the facts he needed, supplied by a Catholic priest who directed an organization that sought to reunite children snatched during the war with their biological families. The priest’s organization had documented thousands of orphaned children who were given false papers so they could be adopted abroad, and many others who were adopted by military leaders who never told the children where they came from. Campos Rivas and his editors wrestled with the dilemma. For all they knew, the children were living happy lives with their adoptive parents. To reveal their origins would undoubtedly roil the families and could even lead to disastrous consequences. But to not publish the story—or to publish it without names—would mean that the military leaders probably would never be punished for their crimes. And didn’t the children have a right to know their true identities? Didn’t their biological families have a right to know what happened to them? Another consideration was that, as any journalist knows, a story like this would lose much of its impact if it did not show the faces and tell the stories of the children affected. Campos Rivas’ source, the Catholic priest, wanted him to do the story but without naming names. The priest’s organization could go on quietly informing the adopted children of their true origins. In the end, the newspaper’s editor, Yolanda Menjicar, decided to do as the priest requested, “in the spirit of national reconciliation.” But the journalist himself still isn’t sure that was the right decision. “I still feel the same dilemma,” Campos Rivas said five years after the story ran. “Sometimes I think publishing the names would have helped bring about re-encounters (of wrongly adopted children with their biological families). Or maybe it would have opened social wounds and done great damage.” The priest’s organization continues working to reunite the young men and women, in El Salvador and abroad, with their birth families. Questions for Discussion 1. Should Campos Rivas have published the story? Should he have named the military leaders who adopted the children? Should he have named the children? 2. Should Campos Rivas have tried to interview the military leaders? Should he have tried to interview the children? Does it matter how old the children were? How old would they have to be before you would think it was acceptable to interview them? 3. List all of the “stakeholders” in this case – that is, the people who would be affected by the decisions Campos Rivas and his colleagues made. What are the consequences of publication 45
Page 1 and 2: Journalism Ethics The Global Debate
Page 3 and 4: Contents 5 Introduction 11 A Global
Page 5 and 6: Introduction Introduction Journalis
Page 7 and 8: Introduction constitutional governm
Page 9 and 10: Introduction
Page 11 and 12: Journalism Ethics Journalism Ethics
Page 13 and 14: Journalism Ethics the fewest prejud
Page 15 and 16: Journalism Ethics involves complex
Page 17 and 18: Newsroom Decision Making Newsroom D
Page 19 and 20: Newsroom Decision Making Together,
Page 21 and 22: Newsroom Decision Making The stakeh
Page 23 and 24: Newsroom Decision Making
Page 25 and 26: Case Studies: Freedom and Responsib
Page 43: Case Studies: Freedom and Responsib
Page 49 and 50: Case Studies: Accuracy and Fairness
Page 63 and 64: Case Studies:: Independence Case St
Page 65 and 66: Case Studies:: Independence 4. Shou
Page 67 and 68: Case Studies:: Independence Journal
Page 69 and 70: Case Studies:: Independence newsroo
Page 71 and 72: Case Studies:: Independence newspap
Page 73 and 74: Case Studies:: Independence pushed
Page 75 and 76: Case Studies:: Independence to make
Page 77 and 78: Case Studies:: Independence Saddam
Page 79 and 80: Case Studies:: Independence such as
Page 81 and 82: Final Notes While ethical discussio
Page 83 and 84: Appendices • Avoid misleading ree
Page 85 and 86: Appendices 85
Page 87 and 88: Appendices Appendix C Ethics Resour
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