Media ethics

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Description

Is a political candidate's past personal life fodder for the front page? If a child commits murder, should the offender's name be released? If a CD by a top recording artist has strongly antisocial lyrics, should the record label consider its impact on kids? In this program, news professionals and executives from NBC, CBS, Capitol-EMI Records, and Mercury Records speak out about the ethical dilemmas their industries face. The program also examines the case of Janet Cooke, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning story about an 8-year-old heroin addict in 1981. The message was heartfelt, but fact-checking later proved her story to be closer to fiction than fact. In addition, the need for honesty and fairness, the subtle pressure of commercial interests, and the lure of sensationalism are discussed in this frank investigation of the pressures and circumstances that make up the context of media ethics.