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Media Ethics Featured in Several Stories

May 19th, 2008 • Posted in: News

Cyberbullying incident leads to indictment; Google’s Street View may face privacy problems in Europe; graduating Nevada journalism students to sign ethics pledge

VARIOUS DATELINES
Ethics and media figured in several stories from the national and world press last week. Among them:

• A Los Angeles grand jury last week indicted Lori Drew, the woman accused of perpetrating a hoax that allegedly resulted in the death of a 13-year-old girl. MSNBC reports that prosecutors alleged that Drew, 49, created a fictitious MySpace account, pretending to be a boy who made friends with the 13-year old. But the boy, “Josh,” later turned on the girl, and she took her own life. The death occurred in Missouri, but prosecutors there said they had no applicable laws under which to charge Drew. Los Angeles authorities mounted the case because MySpace servers are physically located there. She was indicted on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization — a law generally applied to hackers. The case has drawn ethical attention on several fronts, including questions about whether it is unethical or illegal to pretend to be someone else.
• Search engine titan Google has been warned that its controversial Street View feature on Google Maps could violate European Union privacy laws if the service is launched in EU nations, according to BusinessWeek. Street View allows users to see a full-color, 360-degree tour of city streets, constructed from a composite of photos taken by Google crews. The service has caused some to cry foul, including proprietors of battered women’s shelters and alcohol treatment facilities, who claim Street View is an invasion of privacy. While Google eventually agreed to some redaction of scenes of a sensitive nature, including military sites, the company would face a stiffer challenged in Europe, where privacy laws are generally tougher than in the United States, notes BusinessWeek.
• Journalism students at the University of Nevada in Reno were urged to sign an ethics pledge at their graduation. Editor & Publisher reports that the pledge reads in part: “I will uphold and apply the highest standards of integrity and ethics. This includes helping others by minimizing harm and showing compassion…. I will act independently and be accountable for my actions.”

Sources: MSNBC, May 15 — BusinessWeek, May 15 — Editor & Publisher, May 15.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Mar. 31 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 10 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 3, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 15, 2007 — Related Newsline story, June 4, 2007.

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2 Responses »

1. Ethics Newsline » News » Billboards Go High-Tech, but There’s an Ethics Dispute on June 2nd, 2008 at 5:46 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, May 19 — Related Newsline story, May 5 — Related Newsline story, May 5 — [...]

2. Ethics Newsline® » News » Privacy Issues Dominate Week’s Technology News on July 7th, 2008 at 8:23 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, May 19 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 21 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 31 [...]

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