b. they hold lots of data about your online habits
c. they know where you are at all times
d. all of the above
31. The conflict over the involvement of women in video gaming is known as ______.
a. ladygate
b. videogate
c. gamergate
d. geekgate
True/False
1. New York Times reporter David Carr couldn’t trust his own memory of things he did when he
was a cocaine user, so for his memoir he wrote about what he imagined might have happened.
2. Associated Press photographer Richard Drew justified the publishing of the disturbing photos
he took on September 11, 2001, by saying that they were history in the making.
3. Ethics are how we make choices between competing moral principles.
4. Ethics deal with problems that have clear right and wrong answers
5. Kant said that people have the ability to reason and so are obliged to act in a moral way.
6. The Hutchins Commission said that the best way to have a free press was to have it owned by
large, profitable corporations free of government interference.
7. Sissela Bok’s model for analyzing an ethical situation includes holding an imaginary
conversation with everyone involved.
8. According to Sissela Bok, the greatest wrong with lying is an attempt to “make someone
believe what we ourselves do not believe.”
9. The Portland Press Herald editor felt he should apologize for running a photo in his paper of
the local observance of the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on September 11.
10. An example of a conflict of interest issue is when a newspaper buys a sports team, and then
reports on that team.
11. Competition from the Internet and cable news channels can push newsmagazines and
newspapers into carrying more sensationalistic news and photos.
12. Newspapers and magazines can keep sensationalistic stories out of the news by refusing to
cover them.
13. Reporters covering the Sago Mine disaster ran into trouble in part because they were not
careful enough in finding out who was providing information to them.
14. Having a code of ethics will protect the news organization from charges of misconduct.
15. The Advertising Council was formed during World War II in response to charges of
unethical advertising behavior.
16. Major advertisers pulled their sponsorship of Rush Limbaugh’s radio show after he called a
law student and birth control advocate a “slut” over the air.
17. Magazines often warn prospective advertisers when they might be publishing content that
would reflect negatively on the advertisers’ products.
18. The Public Relations Society of America’s Statement of Professional Values says that PR
professionals should be willing to say whatever is necessary to the media to protect their clients’
reputations.
Essay
1. What is the difference between morals and ethics?
2. What is Aristotle’s golden mean?
3. What is Kant’s categorical imperative?
4. What is the principle of utility?
5. What is John Rawls’ veil of ignorance?
6. What are the three steps of Sissela Bok’s model for ethical decision making?
7. Explain how the respected media engaged in tabloid laundering with their coverage of Tiger
Woods’s multiple infidelities?
8. List at least one of the functions of a news organization’s ombudsman.
9. List two reasons a journalistic code of ethics might be ineffective.
10. What are the three central principles of the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of
ethics?
11. What does the ANA Alliance for Family Entertainment do?
12. You are a photo editor for your local newspaper on September 12, 2001. You are presented
with the photo of the falling man as pictured at the beginning of Chapter 14. In a brief essay,
provide an argument for either running or not running the photo. Justify your decision using one
of the ethical principles we’ve discussed.
13. In a brief essay explain at least two different reasons why sensationalistic reporting is
ethically problematic to the journalism industry.
14. Investigative journalists sometimes argue that it is okay for them to go undercover (i.e., lie
about who they are) in order to get a story they couldn’t get otherwise, such as when ABC News
went after Food Lion. And they sometimes get prizes for doing so. Alternative journalists argue
that it is ok for them to go undercover (lie about who they are) to produce a satirical story such as
when the Buffalo Beast and Phoenix New Times went after conservative politicians. In a brief
essay, present an argument why the two types of undercover are equivalent and a second
argument on why they are different ethically.
15. In a brief essay discuss the conduct of public relations company Hill and Knowlton in the
Citizens for a Free Kuwait case.