Deck 6: What Do Journalists Owe Us

Question 1

Jayson Blair violated journalism ethics by invading people's privacy.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Which professional organization has developed its own code of journalistic ethics?

A) Radio Television Digital News Association
B) Society of Professional Journalists
C) National Press Photographers Association
D) All of the above
E) A and B only

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The rules that affect what you might cover in your story are…

A) professional facts
B) legal facts
C) social/political facts
D) big picture facts
E) journalistic facts

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The Journalist's Creed by Walter Williams stresses which of the following?

A) All of the above are Correct
B) Accuracy
C) Truthfulness
D) Fairness
E) Independence

Question 5

The Journalist's Creed was written by the dean of which school?

A) New York School of Journalism
B) Poynter
C) Boston University
D) Missouri School of Journalism
E) None of the Above

Question 6

Which focuses on rules and duties?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Deontology
C) Teleology
D) Consequentialism
E) Virtue ethics

Question 7

The Journalist's Creed by Walter Williams stresses which of the following?

A) Accuracy
B) Truthfulness
C) Fairness
D) Independence
E) All of the above are Correct

Question 8

Meyers' framework for ethical decision making starts with…

A) getting the facts
B) listening to your gut
C) keeping an open mind
D) minimizing harm
E) identifing the duties at stake

Question 9

Which is NOT a perfect duty?

A) Fidelity
B) Formal justice
C) Distributive justice
D) Nonmaleficence
E) Reparation

Question 10

Which professional organization has developed its own code of journalistic ethics?

A) Radio Television Digital News Association
B) Society of Professional Journalists
C) National Press Photographers Association
D) All of these

Question 11

Distributive justice is defined as

A) improving the lives of others
B) honoring the autonomy of another person
C) helping the least advantaged members of society
D) treating people equally
E) giving people what they've earned

Question 12

Prima facie means…

A) ethical reasoning
B) moral reasoning
C) distributive justice
D) formal justice
E) common sense

Question 13

_______ is defined as the norms a group or society follows or a universal code of conduct for everyone.

A) Ethics
B) Morality
C) Fidelity
D) Perfect duty
E) Imperfect duty

Question 14

Journalists are self-policing.

Question 15

Most true ethical dilemmas involve conflict between two legitimate interests.

Question 16

Formal justice is giving people what they've legitimately earned and treating people equally.

Question 17

Beneficence is making up for the harm you've caused others.

Question 18

Perfect duties are problematic because you won't always be in a position to act on them.

Question 19

Doing good journalistic work often means that a journalist contributes to causing some sort of harm.

Question 20

Meyers advises journalists to do a gut check to see what feels right before you get too clouded by the facts.

Question 21

The "Cardinal Tenet of Journalism" is defined by truth being a key standard by which it is judged.

Question 22

The actions of News of the World were…

A) illegal
B) unethical
C) both illegal and unethical
D) neither illegal nor unethical
E) fabrication

Question 23

Name 3 steps in ethical-decision making?

Question 24

What's the difference between "perfect duties" and "imperfect duties" as the chapter describes ethics?

Question 25

A reporter waits to report the names of those arrested at a campus rally until formal charges are filed with the court. What section of the SPJ Code of Ethics most applies?

A) Seek Truth and Report It
B) Minimize Harm
C) Act Independently
D) Be Accountable and Transparent

Question 26

Passing off someone else's words or ideas as your own is known as:

A) Aggregation
B) Conflict of interest
C) Fabrication
D) Plagiarism

Question 27

An editor holds a live chat on the news website to invite dialogue about recently published crime stories. What section of the SPJ Code of Ethics most applies?

A) Seek Truth and Report It
B) Minimize Harm
C) Act Independently
D) Be Accountable and Transparent

Question 28

An editor digitally removes a politician from a group photo so the photo shows only the current candidates. What section of the SPJ Code of Ethics most applies?

A) Seek Truth and Report It
B) Minimize Harm
C) Act Independently
D) Be Accountable and Transparent

Question 29

A reporter refuses to accept free food in exchange for reporting a story about a restaurant. What section of the SPJ Code of Ethics most applies?

A) Seek Truth and Report It
B) Minimize Harm
C) Act Independently
D) Be Accountable and Transparent

Question 30

What is NOT one of the nine steps of ethical reasoning?

A) trying to minimize the harm your decision might cause
B) collect as many facts as possible
C) considering how your decision will affect your career
D) involve your colleagues in reaching a conclusion

Question 31

Morality is defined in chapter 6 as a code of conduct.

Question 32

Which of the following is not a main section in the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics?

A) Seek truth and report it.
B) Minimize harm.
C) Act independently.
D) Be accountable and transparent.
E) Treat others they way you want to be treated.

Question 33

Pick one of the ethics codes mentioned in the chapter and apply it to a story you have seen on the news recently.