Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer;

You need to address two of the following three case studies. You should demonstrate that you understand and can apply the general guidelines and codes of ethics and show your ability to use that knowledge to critically think about an ethical issue. You should start by clearly stating what you think is the ethical course of action and then present your argument for why you came to that conclusion. Your response should show that you’ve considered multiple sides to the issue. Try to anticipate at least one point that someone with a different position from your own might make, and then respond that argument. 

1. A new website has started operating in Canada that scans Internet chat rooms looking for men who can be lured into sexually explicit conversations with invented underage correspondents. The website, Catching-The-Pervs, posts the men’s pictures on its Web site. You learn that the actions by the people who run the website have just led to a man in London being arrested yesterday. He will be in court tomorrow to face charges. You are the crime reporter at the London Free Press. Should your newspaper cover the story? Is it ethical to use such a sting tactic? Should you indirectly support the agenda of an advocacy group even if it’s an agenda as worthy as this one? How much of the story and the details would you reveal in your article for the London Free Press? Would you treat the story differently online than in your printed edition? Why or why not?
Would it be different if a team at your newspaper had conducted the sting on your own? That is, that you had gone into the internet chat rooms and lured the perpetrator in to meeting your fake identity of being an 11-year old boy. 
Would it make a difference if the man was a school principle or a construction worker? If so, why and how would it change how you’d handle the story?

2. You are the Editor-in-Chief of a struggling newspaper that has published a story on a national study, which concluded that bottled water has virtually no health advantages over the tap water in most cities, including your own. The story in your newspaper included comments from local health store owners and water distributors challenging the findings of the study and defending the 
benefits of bottled water. The story also included comments from the person who led the study, and from an environmentalist who argues that not only is bottled water a waste of money for consumers, but it also takes a significantly negative toll on the environment. The Clean and Delicious Bottled Water Company spends $100,000 a-year advertising in your newspaper. The 
company has threatened to pull its account with your newspaper unless you run another story of equal prominence, focusing on the benefits of bottled water. 
What should you do?  Explain your reasoning.

3. Black face ethics
You are the Editor-in-Chief at the London Free Press and someone send you a copy of an Instagram post of a white London police officer painted brown and dressed in what appears to be traditional African wear. The post begins by showing London police Constable Carol Poulton in uniform. You can see 
her name-tag in the picture. The Instagram post then shows Poulton 
getting her hair and body painted brown. The final photo looks like this: Poulton is identified as the person on the left. This all comes at a time when London Police face a series of public relation challenges. Police were criticized a few months ago over how they released information about assaults on women that might protect others. After media coverage and pressure from women’s agencies, police agreed to review policies on releasing information. And, after a critical story published by the London Free Press recently, London police vowed 
greater transparency in dealing with charges against its own officers. The Instagram account that the pictures were posted on is public. It belongs to Poulton’s sister-in-law and doesn’t seem to be critical of Poulton in any way. The person who emailed you the copy of the Instagram post says t
his a clear example of racism within the London Police Services. What would you do with this picture? Is this news? Should it be reported? Would it influence 
your decision if the blackface picture had been taken many years before Poulton had become a police officer? Why or why not? What ethical considerations are there with this story and how would you address them?