Case

1
Case 1

• Colleen Abbott
• Maggie Amin
• Karen Andersen
• John Devaney

2
Reasons to publish the story

• To keep the public informed of what is going on
  in their area.
• To influence the public to better protect
  themselves and their homes.
• Give voice to the voiceless the lady who
  approached us should get to share her story so
  that other people can hear about it and be aware.

3
Reasons to not publish the story

• Jeopardizing the case especially as we are
  unaware of the suspect and how they plan to go
  about catching him.
• Scare the public and stakeholders as it could
  result in a panic and have people worrying more
  than they should.
• Give a negative and/or false light to the area.

4
Further information wed prefer to have before
making a decision

• Specifics
• Who was affected
• When they were affected
• Where they live
• What was taken
• How close the police are to catching the suspect
• This limits the amount of information we can
  publish because we havent approached or found
  enough sources to gather enough information
  together for a credible story.

5
What do I know? What do I need to know?

• We know that the womans home has been broken
  into and that there have been other break-ins.
• We need to know how many other break ins there
  were, where they were located and if they were
  related to the break-in that we know about.

6
What is my journalistic purpose?

• We know that the public would want to know so
  they are aware of what is going on especially if
  it is in their area.
• Our journalistic purpose is to inform the public
  so that they can better protect themselves and
  their belongings especially if they arent using
  much protection at the moment.

7
What are my ethical concerns?

• We do not want to interfere with the case, scare
  the public and the stakeholders, or give a
  negative light to the area that the case is
  focused on. Since we dont have many facts, we
  dont want to give justice to false information
  so we need to make sure the story is accurate.

8
What policies and professional guidelines should
I consider?

• We need to consider the job of the police and not
  interfere with the case. Also, based on the
  information we cant write a very detailed story.
  There are not enough facts we dont know the
  truth.

9
How can I include other people in the decision
making?

• We should talk to our colleagues and our
  supervisor to include them in the decision.
• We can also try talking to the police again.
• We can talk to the woman whose home was broken
  into as well as potential other victims that she
  might know about.

10
Who are the stakeholders? What are their
motivations?

• Police chief his motivation is to save the
  case.
• The public they dont want their homes broken
  into and/or the reputation of their town
  tarnished if it turns out to exaggerate the
  situation.
• The suspect and his family/friends his
  reputation would also be tarnished if he is
  actually innocent. It could hurt his familys
  name.

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What if the roles were reversed?

• If we were the police, we wouldnt want the
  public to know because it would be chaotic and
  people would be calling into the station to get
  more information.
• If we were the public, we would want to know so
  we could better protect ourselves, our home, and
  our families.

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What are the possible consequences of my decision?

• More homes could be robbed if we dont write
  about it in our paper because some people wont
  take the extra precaution to protect themselves.
• There could be a town panic if we do write about
  it which could jeopardize the case because the
  police could be waiting for the suspect to strike
  again.

13
What are my alternatives to maximize my
truth-telling responsibilities and still minimize
harm?

• Do more investigation. We do not have enough
  information to accurately report the story, but
  we still have a responsibility to the public. We
  definitely need to get more information out of
  the police chief and the woman who came to us
  with her story.

14
Ultimate decision on whether or not to publish

• Our decision was to not write the story unless we
  get more information and specifics to avoid error
  that could cause unnecessary panic.

15
Can I justify/defend my decision?

• We do not want to print false information. The
  only thing we could write in our story is that
  one womans home has been broken into. However,
  we do not know exactly what was stolen and
  exactly what day it was stolen.

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Factors that could change our mind

• If we find out more information which could lead
  us to think that the public in immediate danger.
• If we knew exactly who was in danger and how big
  of an area the story affected.
• Knowing what exactly was stolen including
  monetary amounts, if possible, other specific
  people who have had a theft problem, and
  specifics on the age and name of all the victims
  including the lady who approached us.
• We also need to know when the thefts occurred.