Scenarios

Test your editorial awareness with our news scenarios, which are all based on real situations faced by journalists.

Transparency and full disclosure – scenario

Scenarios

Emotional assumptions – scenario

Scenarios

Journalistic ethics – scenario

Returning ‘favours’ – scenario

Dealing with emotional pressure in journalism – scenario

Interviewing integrity – 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.

Interviewing integrity – scenario

An editorial integrity scenario where a journalist on a large salary faces the dilemma of whether to compromise their editorial integrity, become a whistleblower, or resign. What would you do?

Editorial impartiality – scenario

Allegations are made about an incompetent medical surgeon and a subsequent cover up at a hospital. People have died. Your news editor asks you to investigate. The only problem is – the surgeon is your cousin. What do you do?

Public interest – scenario

This scenario looks at some of the issues that need to be considered when deciding whether a story is in the public interest.

Journalistic integrity – scenario

You are a political broadcast journalist and are invited to speak at public event where the organisers want you to explain the role of the journalist in covering elections. After the event they offer you a gift, and ask whether you would be prepared to do some media training for politicians. What do you do?

Covering a tragedy – scenario

In this scenario we look at how a journalist should act when they witness a tragedy unfolding and have to decide whether to help, or to stand by and report. The scenario also looks at how senior editorial managers could, and probably should, support their journalists working in difficult conditions.

Legal threats – scenario

Journalists often come under pressure with threats of legal action if they don't publish or broadcast what others want. In this scenario we look at a scenario where a reporter is sent a cease and desist letter and told legal action will be taken against them if they don't add 'positive-spin' to an article.

Returning ‘favours’ – scenario

In this scenario you are a parliamentary reporter being put under pressure to cover a story by a politician who says they did you a favour in the past.