Scenarios
Test your editorial awareness with our news scenarios, which are all based on real situations faced by journalists.
Emotional pressure – scenario
How should a reporter respond when someone uses emotional pressure and threats to try to stop them doing their job?
Transparency and full disclosure – scenario
In this scenario a reporter embedded with the military and closely monitored in a war zone wanders off and discovers a story the army wouldn't want him to tell.
Returning favours – scenario
In this scenario a naive reporter's early success with a government minister leads to an ethical dilemma when a 'favour' is demanded in return.
Privacy protection – scenario
You are working on the online news desk of a large media organisation. News breaks of fighting overseas. Raw footage arrives showing identifiable dead bodies. What do you do?
Photo journalism – scenario
In this scenario a reporter tells the newsdesk that she has a strong news story only to find that the facts were not as they seemed.
Emotional assumptions – scenario
In this scenario a journalist lets their own emotional assumptions colour their news judgement resulting in misinformation.
Journalistic ethics – scenario
In this scenario a reporter feels ethically compromised after accepting hospitality from a developer who subsequently pressured them for favourable coverage.
Journalistic integrity – scenario
In this scenario a political correspondent working for a broadcaster is asked to speak at an event organised by a political party - but there is a catch.
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