Scenarios
Test your editorial awareness with our news scenarios, which are all based on real situations faced by journalists.
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
Scenario: You arrive at a border crossing and see a child sitting by the roadside crying. You think it's been abandoned and take a picture. You alert the newsdesk. But it transpires it's just lost its mother and stops crying when the mother arrives. What should you do?
Right of reply – scenario
Try our right of reply scenario where you are the editor of a morning radio news and current affairs programme and just before the bulletin you receive conflicting information that is too late to fact-check.
Withholding information – scenario
You are about to publish an article about a local business which is offering a service for a paid-for subscription. Before you publish you are informed that a similar service is being offered by a community project which is totally free-of-charge. What do you do?
Testing boundaries – scenario
As one of the editors of a government radio news service in a developing democracy you receive information of an imminent threat of famine in a rural area of the country. But you fear that broadcasting the information could anger your employers. What do you do?
Off-the-record chat – scenario
What should a journalist do with off-the-record information? Should they agree to conditions on its use? Should they ignore any conditions and do the story anyway? Or should they use what they have been told as background information and dig further? Try our scenario and decide what you would do in the circumstances.
Informed consent – scenario
You are a reporter covering a house fire where a traumatised woman talks to you on camera but after the interview you are made aware of the circumstances that could mean she didn't realise what she was saying. Do you use the interview?
Trespass and journalism – scenario
In this scenario we discuss whether it is every justified for a journalist to trespass in order to gather information that helps the audience better understand the issue being covered.
You might also likeRELATEDRecommended to you
Offence and journalism
Journalists must ensure that the material they use in coverage has a clear editorial purpose. Where that material is likely to offend, there need to be clear warnings of what is coming up.
Keeping the sub-editors happy
A sub-editor is happiest when given copy that reads well and needs little rewriting. A writer or reporter is happiest when their copy is printed with the fewest changes to their original.
Managing a news website’s front page
The person in charge of a news website is like a shopkeeper who sets out their stall. If the items are badly displayed the customer might miss them, if they are not fresh people won't buy them.