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Reporters, Editors, and Others Ponder Limits of Coverage

Aug 11th, 2008 • Posted in: News

Edwards affair, controversial novel, FBI snooping into reporters’ phone records, and gruesome PETA ad highlight ethics dilemmas in media

VARIOUS DATELINES
Several issues in media ethics were featured in news reports last week. Among the coverage:

• Former Democratic presidential contender John Edwards admitted that he had an extramarital affair, a story that made headlines, but also gave rise to ethical controversy over the story behind the story: Why the mainstream media seemingly ignored the issue despite extensive coverage via tabloids, cable talk shows, and various political blogs. The New York Times reports that in some cases it appeared that major media were reluctant to follow the lead of the National Enquirer, while in other instances they appeared to shrug off a story involving the private life of an also-ran. According to the Times, most major news organizations held off on the story until ABC announced it was airing an interview with Edwards in which he admitted the affair.
• Random House unexpectedly pulled from publication a novel, The Jewel of Medina, because it contained material that the publishing house was told could enrage some Muslims. Trade journal Publishers Weekly reports that Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry said the company received “cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment. In this instance we decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers, and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel.”
• The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last week apologized for improperly obtaining the phone records of U.S. reporters working in Indonesia. Federal officials say the agency did not follow proper procedures when it obtained records from New York Times and Washington Post reporters who were working on stories about Islamic terrorism. UPI reports that the FBI admitted it obtained the records under a controversial tool called “exigent circumstance” letters, which are only supposed to be used in an emergency to prevent terrorist actions. No investigative use was made of the phone records, according to the UPI report.
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) tried and failed to run a newspaper ad that compared the gruesome beheading of a passenger on a Canadian Greyhound bus to the treatment of animals slaughtered for food. The Canadian Press reports that the ad was rejected by a Manitoba paper. The PETA ad, which remains on the organization’s website, reads: “His struggles and cries are ignored … the man with the knife shows no emotion … the victim is slaughtered and his head cut off … his flesh is eaten.” The alleged perpetrator in the bus attack was charged with second-degree murder and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to the report.

Sources: New York Times, Aug. 8 — Publishers Weekly, Aug. 8 — UPI, Aug. 7 — Canadian Press, Aug. 7.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 25 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 4 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 29, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 6, 2006.

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1. Ethics Newsline® » News » Nominating Conventions Also Put Spotlight on Large Funders on August 25th, 2008 at 4:48 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug. 11 — Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, July 21 [...]

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