Model assignment for group presentations on ethics

Abortion issues – Ms. Sackstein’s sample assignment

Ethical Issues
The ethical issues in this case have to do with falsely defaming an advocate for a pro-life stance on abortion based on the hearsay of his own support of his daughter’s alleged abortion. How can a man who has been extremely outspoken in the community on this issue, take a different view when it comes to his own family where he should be advocating his feelings the most?

Journalistic Responsibility
Our journalistic responsibility is to cover the issue of abortion, showing all sides and potentially student opinions on the matter.
· How does the issue affect students in a modern community?
· We must report the facts, but we can’t report hearsay about a particular student unless that student steps forward and wants to be a part of the article. It can’t be second hand story. It must come from the source to avoid libel
· Perhaps discuss the 50 year anniversary of Roe Vs. Wade and what it represents.

Stakeholders
The stakeholders are the newspaper itself, the school if the paper is a part of the public-forum, the person or people who may be defamed or outed and the adviser as well as the sources.

Interviews
I would try to get the staff to interview the daughter and also the father because I would want to get the truth from the horse’s mouth. Is there any validity to the allegations set forward by these sources? What were the circumstances? I would imagine that if the father was supporting his daughter and he feels the way he does about abortion, there would have to be a reason.
Perhaps other members of the community who have openly heard Mr. Clear speak in public venues. Perhaps I would seek out public records to see if he has ever been on record speaking his opinion. This way we can have a way to corroborate his story in a legal manner.
If there is a Planned Parenthood in the community, I would want to interview people who work there to get statistics and opinions from people who work with abortions. I would want student, teacher, parent and administrator opinion to round out the discussion.

Alternatives
Perhaps as an alternative we can print a retrospective of the Roe v. Wade decision. What was it? What are the implications of it? How has it changed the world in both positive and negative ways? Who are the greatest supporters of it? Why are people opposed? It can run as an editorial and/or opinion piece showing how this important court case changed women’s rights.