Scenarios

Our ethical scenarios present real-world dilemmas that test editorial judgement and professional values. These challenging case studies involve conflicts of interest, privacy considerations, source protection, and difficult editorial decisions that journalists encounter daily. All material is free to download, adapt and use. Scroll down our site map for all the content in this and other sections.

Scenarios

Photo journalism – scenario

Scenarios

Public interest – scenario

Scenarios

Accuracy – scenario

Image by Rob Swystun released via Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Informed consent – scenario

In this scenario a reporter covering a disaster films a grief-stricken woman before discovering the facts about the ordeal she has witnessed.

Image by Mark.murphy at English Wikipedia released via Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Journalistic ethics – scenario

In this scenario a reporter feels ethically compromised after accepting hospitality from a developer who subsequently pressured them for favourable coverage.

Image of a note being posted through a letterbox by Google Gemini Imagen 3

Doorstepping – scenario

You are a local newspaper reporter sent out to doorstep a bereaved family but you lie to your news editor because you are reluctant to intrude on their grief.

Real ale in front of a pub fire. Image by Media Helping Media released via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Legal threats – scenario

In this scenario a local newspaper reporter faces legal threats for a factual planning application report that lacked the applicant's demanded "positive spin."

Image of trespass notice copyright Albert Bridge released under this Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0

Trespass and journalism – scenario

In this scenario we look at a situation where a journalist is faced with breaking the law in order to gather essential information for informing the public debate.

Image by Birdy released via Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Interviewing integrity – scenario

In this scenario, an award-winning journalist is offered a top job at national TV station, but soon after starting her new job she discovers corruption in the media house.

Tea and biscuits - image by Media Helping Media released via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

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.

Image by Army Medicine released via Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Editorial impartiality – scenario

In this scenario a reporter covering a story about medical malpractice in a hospital discovers that the consultant involved is a relative. What should they do?