Question

evaluating news reporting
quiz complete
1
time remai
59:5
read the scenario.
a journalist researches a possible scheme by a financial services company to steal money from its clients. he has one source, a woman who lost all of the money that she had invested with the company. he also talks to competing firms, who say that the company in question has no ethics. with just this information, the journalist publishes a story accusing the company of stealing clients money.
which part of the code of ethics set by the society of professional journalists does the journalist most violate?

• keeping news separate from paid advertising
• seeking the truth and reporting news without bias
• minimizing harm by showing compassion
• being accurate and transparent

Explanation:

To determine the violated code of ethics, we analyze each option:

• "keeping news separate from paid advertising": The scenario doesn't involve advertising, so this is irrelevant.
• "seeking the truth and reporting news without bias": The journalist used limited sources (one victim, competing firms with no evidence) and accused the company. Seeking truth requires thorough verification, which wasn't done here, but let's check other options.
• "minimizing harm by showing compassion": The scenario focuses on accuracy/verification, not harm minimization.
• "being accurate and transparent": The journalist published an accusation with insufficient evidence (only one victim and competing firms' unsubstantiated claims). Accuracy and transparency require verifying facts and being clear about sources/evidence. Since the journalist lacked sufficient verification but published, this is the violated principle. The key is that accuracy (ensuring claims are true with proper evidence) and transparency (about how information was gathered) were not followed. The journalist didn't verify the claim properly (e.g., no response from the company, limited sources) yet accused them, violating accuracy and transparency.

Answer:

D. being accurate and transparent (assuming D is the option label for "being accurate and transparent"; if the options are labeled differently, adjust the label but the text is "being accurate and transparent")