Scenarios
Test your editorial awareness with our news scenarios, which are all based on real situations faced by journalists.
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.
Testing boundaries – scenario
In this scenario we look at a situation where an editor faces breaking protocol because of the strength of a story.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Journalistic ethics – scenario
In this scenario a reporter feels ethically compromised after accepting hospitality from a developer who subsequently pressured them for favourable coverage.
Emotional assumptions – scenario
In this scenario a journalist lets their own emotional assumptions colour their news judgement resulting in misinformation.
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