DATE: Sunday, April 20, 1997                TAG: 9704180004

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM

                                            LENGTH:  144 lines

REPORT TO READERS HERE'S WHAT YOU, AS EDITORS, DECIDED

Every day, editors wrestle with questions of ethics: Is the public getting the facts? Is the story or photo fair? Are the revelations an invasion of privacy?

Those were some of the issues behind 10 cases in our ``You Be the Editor'' quiz two Sundays ago. Surprisingly, in eight of the 10 cases, the public and the press came to similar, pretty tough conclusions.

No, it wasn't a scientific or official survey. But just like real editors, the 392 readers who participated via INFOLINE, e-mail and regular mail thought some of the issues out carefully while dismissing others as ``no-brainers.''

In addition, the percentages below include responses from 25 Pilot newsroom staffers and 54 journalism students from Norfolk State and Old Dominion universities as well as Northampton High School in Eastville and Isle of Wight Academy, where teachers made the quiz a class exercise.

Here's what you, and they, had to say about the first five cases. The results of Cases 6-10 will be on tomorrow's Perspectives page.

CASE NO. 1: Now seriously, folks. . .

Your reporter is covering a speech by a local politician. The politician makes a joke that offends several members of the audience, who walk out. The person covering the speech reports this, but in the story repeats the joke told by the politician. It has a sexual theme. In editing the story:

1. You delete the joke because you consider it inappropriate for your newspaper.

Percent who agree:

Readers: 41.7% Pilot staff: 21% Journalism students: 47%

2. You let it stand on grounds that otherwise your readers can't properly judge the actions of those who walked out.

Readers: 58.3% Pilot staff: 79% Journalism students: 53%

Comments: Readers opted to spell out the joke, but not by a big majority. Daniel McKay of Virginia Beach wanted it ``verbatim'' but only, he said, if the context was clear. ``Otherwise,'' he added, ``how can I judge the man?''

Alison Mellin of Virginia Beach voted to delete the joke. ``As editor, I have a reputation to uphold,'' she wrote. ``Why offend thousands to accommodate several?''

Pilot editors and writers had fewer qualms - 4 out of 5 opted to leave in the joke. The journalism students were nearly split.

CASE NO. 2: A right to be happy. . . ?

A reporter and photographer have been assigned to do a story on unmarried teen-age parents in your city. They come back with a story and photos that show the sorrows faced by these young parents but the happy times, too. At a news meeting, the editors divide into two camps. Which side do you join?

1. Teen-age parenthood is one of the most serious social ills faced by your city. You are afraid that the story makes it look too appealing. You ask the reporter and the photographer to re-do the story, emphasizing mostly the problems.

Readers: 24.4% Pilot staff: 0 Journalism students: 13%

2. You argue that both good and bad should be shown in the story. You let it stand.

Readers: 75.6% Pilot staff: 100% Journalism students: 87%

Comments: In this case, there was relatively close agreement among our three groups - show both the sorrow and joy of teen-age parenthood, not just one side. Besides, ``not all teen-age parents are irresponsible, poor parents,'' said M. Mack of Norfolk.

In real life? The public editor's office probably would have gotten calls complaining that the story was glorified teen parenthood.

CASE NO. 3: But is it relevant. . . ?

A 20-year-old man is arrested on morals charges involving a 17-year-old girl. Your reporter writes the story and it includes the fact that the arrested person is the son of the president of a local city council.

1. You leave in the mention of the father because you believe this fact is important to your readers. The father is well-known locally and such unpleasant publicity is one of the prices of fame. Also, you don't want to be accused of covering up anything touching on a public official.

Readers: 33.3% Pilot staff: 80% Journalism students: 43%

2. You delete the reference to the father. He is in no way connected to the arrest and you reason that to report the family connection would be unfair.

Readers: 66.7% Pilot staff: 20% Journalism students: 57%

Comments: While the journalism students were nearly split, readers and Pilot staffers were polarized by this question.

``If the son was underage, then it should be mentioned who the father is,'' said Irma Smith of Norfolk. ``But the son is grown up. The father cannot be held responsible for the son's actions so delete the reference.''

Peter Pfotenhauer of Virginia Beach disagreed. ``The actions of the son reflect on the upbringing and parenting of the father,'' he said. Besides, he added, ``readers that know the family will identify the son immediately. Other readers have a right to know about this incident because of the nature of the crime.''

Linda Wright of Norfolk offered the middle ground: Mention the father but don't highlight the fact when writing the story.

CASE No. 4: Out of balance. . .

Students at an inner-city high school have been recognized nationally for their community service. Your reporter writes a compelling feature, but the photographer hits a snag - classes are out for spring vacation - so a school official arranges for some students to come in especially for a picture. When the photo editor goes over the film, he sees that six of the seven students pictured are white even though the school's student body is 95 percent African American.

1. You hold the story and assign the photographer to go back to the school to photograph a more representative group of students.

Readers: 72.4% Pilot staff: 100% Journalism students: 55%

2. The story is not about race and the students were selected by a school official. You decide to select the best pictures for publication without regard to the race of the subjects.

Readers: 27.6% Pilot staff: 0 Journalism students: 45%

Comments: Ironically, while all Pilot staffers answering this survey favored re-shooting the photo, that's not what happened in a similar real-life situation; the photo ran as originally shot.

The journalism class at Isle of Wight Academy voted 6-1 to let the original photo stand. ``This is not a racial issue,'' said Blake Stephenson, ``and it should not be made to look like one.''

But journalism students at ODU mostly disagreed, opting 12-3 to take another photo. Said Erica Schlosser: ``There is so much negative attention given to inner-city schools, it is refreshing to read a positive story accompanied with an accurate portrayal of the people involved.''

And another ODU student, Amy Bull, pointed out that the story wasn't timely and could ``easily be held for new photos next week. It is not fair to run a photo of almost all white kids when it is not representative of the school.''

CASE NO. 5: The Tinker-Toy car door. . .

Police tell your reporter about a rash of car burglaries in town. It isn't the cars that are being stolen, but stereos and other valuables inside the cars. Many of the break-ins have occurred because burglars have discovered that these kinds of cars are the easiest to get into just by jimmying the door handles. The reporter names the make and model.

1. You delete the information, fearing that to include it would tip off would-be thieves and make a bad problem worse.

Readers: 14.8% Pilot staff: 0 Journalism students: 9%

2. You let the story stand as it is. If a particular type of car is a target, that's news - and besides, people who own this kind of car should be alerted.

Readers: 85.2% Pilot staff: 100% Journalism students: 91%

Comments: This appeared to be a relatively easy decision for our ``editors'' since the direct impact was on something mechanical, rather than a flesh-and-blood morality or privacy issue. By a long shot, the decision was to print all.

``Owners need that info, and it's doubtful that car dealers and/or manufacturers will supply it,'' said Meredith Land Machin of Virginia Beach.

But Maggie Robertson of Virginia Beach had more faith in auto makers and thought the car make and model should be left out. ``There are already too many copy-cat crimes,'' she said. ``The manufacturer will notify the necessary customers.''

Terry Riley of ``Palookaville'' (borrowed from our April Fool's story) saw a deeper issue here: ``Would you report `How to Murder Your Wife' instructions? Same principle.''

Coming Monday: Cases 6-10

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