How's this for ethics ... TV edition

Did you say anything to the TV reporter about it at the time? I don't like the story, but it does seem a little narc-ish to go talking to her boss when you didn't say a peep to her while all this was going on.

There are a lot of levels of deception. Maybe it was her boss' idea to recreate the thing? Not the SD but some TV equilivant of an editor? The camera man is involved. The PR flack running the golf tournament should know better than to allow this...and the golf folks I've dealt with have been pains in the neck about access.

Who knows? Not us, because I don't think Rhody talked to the woman. I have no idea if you have a working relationship with the reporter, had met before or whatever, and I'm not saying you're in the wrong either, but you feel guilty about it and simply having a conversation with her first would've taken you out of having to feel that way.

 

I'm with Alma. I'd have written about it.

 

Johnny,

Serious question -- you're covering an event and a small town newspaper from the same general area is covering it as well. The next day you see that their photo accompanying their story has a cutline that says "Sally Putzky's putt clinched a state championship." You realize the putt shown in the photo is not the one that clinched the championship. Are you going to write about that?

 

Not the same thing.

 

Using the wrong picture is bad -- especially if they knowingly use it because it's a better visual, or because the photog left before the end.

It's not as bad a recreating it.

But, here's the thing: Who's job is it to enforce journalistic standards?

Government can regulate doctors, lawyers, etc.

But, because of the Fist Amendment, it basically can't enforce ethics or standards (short of law breaking) on the press.

So, the press must self regulate. It must. It's the only choice.

And, when you choose to let small lapses go, it leads to bigger ones.

And, when you excuse sports re-creation, that you wouldn't forgive in hard news, you reinforce the perception that sports is the "toy department".

It's a small thing, in a small town, but a breach in ethics is a breach in ethics. It needs to be called out.

 

It isn't about tattling or gotcha or "look, they ran the wrong photo." It's about witnessing something newsworthy on several levels and telling your readers about it. Disagree? Cool. I'd write this one every time if I saw it happen the way he described. The other is not remotely the same.

Edit to add: The breach of ethics is, of course, a big part of the story, but the decision to write about something often takes into account a lot of factors. For me, being witness to something people should know compels you to write about it. Hearing about it later? I'm not so sure, but if I'm there, I'm writing it. It's a part of the scene, and a pretty damn interesting, newsworthy one.

 

That's what I don't get. If you miss the action, just get video with the plaque, do an interview and other random footage, maybe throw in a comment from either the winner or a coach and call it good.

 

I think my example is pretty close. It's passing an image off as something it isn't. It's not like it's unusual in newspapers.

Leaving that aside, though, I do question the newsworthiness of it. We're not talking about ABC News here. I don't know precisely what market we're talking about, but I'm pretty comfortable in saying it's a pretty small one.

Do we really think a transgression by a likely new-to-the-business journalist in a small market is really worth reporting on? I'll assume you did some stupid stuff in your first job. I know I did. Should someone have reported that, in the interest of industry self-regulation?

Just taking this board as an example -- every few months someone will post some terrible article written by a kid at a small paper, and everyone jumps on that poster for attacking someone who's just starting out. And, I think, rightfully so. Those are the place where you learn what to do, and learn what not to do. And while a bad ethical lapse is certainly different from a shitty lede, I still don't think it rises to the level where you should be calling them out in public.

Again, I'm in no way defending what the OP thinks she did. Hell, a good friend of mine was fired from his first job for something vaguely similar, and he's not even the one who did it; he knew about it and didn't stop the footage from airing. He deserved to be fired, and he'd tell you that himself.

 

This is absolutely the correct answer. But I also remember my first job, and the feeling that I'll be looked at as a failure if I return from a golf tournament without video of the action.

 

PC, I think there is a big difference between the incident that inspired the thread and your hypothetical. I doubt we could change each other's opinion.

 

Or NBC ...