Case Studies in the Right to Privacy and Libel

In a remarkable case stemming from the right to privacy, the British tabloid News of the World actually closed for good a few years ago after a shocking phone hacking scandal. Watch this video to learn more about it.

Creative Commons photo by Howard Lake  

Then read this column about the difference between tabloid journalism and investigative journalism.

Movie star Tom Cruise is currently involved in a libel case. Click here to read about it. He was also recently criticized for a controversial comment he allegedly made during his testimony in the case, but those remarks were apparently misquoted.  

Exploring Ethical Dilemmas

Creative Commons photo by Justin Baeder

Journalists and the publications they work for must strive to be ethical in their reporting. In fact, most major publications have their own ethics policies that employees are expected to follow. Click on this link to see The New York Times' ethics policy. It's quite extensive, so I'm not asking you to read all of it. But just skim through it by clicking on the various guidelines highlighted in blue, especially the first two. Take note of one or two of the policies that stand out to you and be prepared to share them in class.

Then click on this ethics quiz from PBS to explore some ethical scenarios and see which course of action you would choose. Reporters face a variety of ethical choices for which there are often no easy or "right" answers. Comment on the scenario that you found most difficult to make a decision for.

Bias in the News

Creative Commons photo by DonkeyHotey

As we examine the problem of bias in the news, you're probably thinking, "I'm not prejudiced. So I would never be biased in my reporting or writing." But bias isn't the same thing as prejudice. Prejudice is a deliberate negative feeling or attitude. Bias is a tendency or an inclination to assume a certain viewpoint, and a bias may be favorable or unfavorable and is not always deliberate. Indeed, most reporters are unaware of bias in their reporting until someone points it out to them.







Even if your work is free of bias, you need to be a critical observer of the news media and have a greater understanding of bias in reporting. Because it happens. All the time.
Bias can occur in many ways, particularly through:  

•  Selection and omission of specific details

•  Placement of a story

•  Choice of sources

•  Word choice and tone

•  Headlines

•  Photos and camera angles

•  Captions

•  Names and titles

•  Statistics

Click here to examine how two articles cover the same news event in much different way.Then click on some of the other menu items and explore this excellent University of Michigan website on news bias.

For an example of liberal bias, read the examples below (from Breitbart.com) regarding a story about former presidential candidate Mitt Romney who made some controversial remarks while he was being secretly videotaped. How do the revised versions of this New York Times article show a liberal bias?

The original piece contains this paragraph:

Romney told reporters Monday night that his remarks were “not elegantly stated” and were “spoken off the cuff.” But he says Obama's approach is “attractive to people who are not paying taxes.”

The new version reads:

Mr. Romney addressed the video, somewhat awkwardly, at a fund-raiser Monday night in Costa Mesa, Calif., summoning reporters with a few moments’ notice to walk through the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, which was filled with guests sipping drinks at tables elegantly draped in blue cloths.

The original reads:

Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, said in a statement Monday evening that it was “shocking” that Romney would “go behind closed doors” to describe nearly half of the country in such terms.

The new version reads:

Mr. Romney, who has been under fire for releasing only two years of his tax returns, was quickly attacked by the Obama campaign. Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement Monday evening that it was “shocking” that Mr. Romney would “go behind closed doors” to describe nearly half of the country in such terms.

Finally, watch this video by comedian Jon Stewart, who shows a collection of news clips from Fox News about its biased coverage that accuses the Obama administration of covering up "the truth" about how an American ambassador was killed in Benghazi, Libya.