Law, Policy, & Ethics Exam

What is libel?

• A) Publishing a false statement that damages someone’s reputation

• B) A tendency to do something

• C) Publishing private information about a person

• D) Use of outside editors

Someone gives you secret information.  In return, you promise to conceal his identity.  If you suddenly change your mind and publish his name, that’s called “burning a source.”

• True

• False

What is defamation?

• A) Publishing unflattering reports about someone

• B) An invasion of privacy

• C) A clearly labeled personal opinion

• D) An untruthful accusation that lowers someone’s reputation

In Journalism, ethics involves___________________.

• A) self-discipline by writers and reporters

• B) following policy guidelines of the publication

• C) obeying the law

• D) all of the above

In invasion of privacy cases, what is meant by intrusion?

• A) Pretending to be someone you’re not

• B) Trespassing

• C) Using a hidden camera or tape recorder

• D) All of the above

In a story about a traffic accident, you quote one of the victims saying, “That driver’s a lunatic.  He’s a freakin’ menace.”  That remark is:

• A) libelous

• B) not libelous

Someone gives you secret information.  In return, you promise to conceal his identity.  If you suddenly change your mind and publish his name, he could sue you for violating a verbal contract.

• True

• False

You’re standing in the hallway, waiting to interview a professor from Iraq.  As you lean against the door to his office, you hear from him making pro-terrorist, anti-American statements.  You take careful notes.  Later, you confront him with his remarks.  He calls them lies and threatens to sue you if you print them.  Could he win?

• A) Yes

• B) No

Libel and slander are_______________________.

• A) essentially the same in meaning

• B) two types of obscenity

• C) defined by federal rather than state law

• D) not important concerns for student journalists

To avoid libel changes, a journalist__________________.

• A) should check all sources carefully

• B) should avoid confidential content in notes

• C) should distinguish accuracy from truth

• D) all of the above

In invasion of privacy cases, what is meant by public disclosure?

• A) Broadcasting sensitive material from a person’s private life

• B) Requiring a reporter to identify herself or himself

• C) Publishing information that is newsworthy

• D) All of the above

Freedom of the press in the U.S. is __________________.

• A) unlimited

• B) limited only for school sponsored journalism

• C) limited by laws, ethics, and policy

• D) guaranteed by the Constitution

In a football-game story, you quote the losing coach, who says, “That referee is blind.  He cost us the game.  He’s got no business officiating in this league.”  Videotapes, however, prove the referee made the right call.  Could the referee win a libel suit against you?

• A) Yes

• B) No

In writing a story about local acupuncturist Ophelia Paine, you quote a brain surgeon at a nearby hospital who says, “Acupuncturist are all quacks.  They’ll kill you if you’re not careful.”  Paine considers this defamatory.  “Your story will bankrupt me,” she says.  Could she win a libel suit against your publication?

• A) Yes

• B) No

In writing a story about an outspoken anti-abortion activist, you print that she was once arrested for trying to bomb an abortion clinic.  But you’ve read the court records incorrectly: she only testified at someone else’s trial.  Your newspaper has run a correction, but she’s still furious.  Can she win a libel suit?

• A) Yes

• B) No

A “shield law” prevents a reporter from being sued for libel.

• True

• False

Privilege protects a journalist from charges of defamation when___________________.

• A) he or she has connections to celebrities

• B) the information came directly from the subject

• C) the damaging information came from an official government source

• D) only this journalist reported the information

If you cruelly and unfairly criticize a public figure, that’s called “actual malice.”

• True

• False

Gossip about your school’s cheerleaders is posted on a Web site.  You reprint it in your weekly newspaper opinion column, clearly identifying your source.  An angry cheerleader reads your column, gets upset and decides to sue for libel.  Who is most liable?

• A) You

• B) The gossip Web site

• C) Both you and the Web site

Libel laws are consistent from state to state.

• True

• False

On his late-night NBC show, Conan O’Brien makes several lengthy jokes in your newspaper, but the editor says you can’t do it without getting approval from NBC.  Those jokes are copyrighted, he says, and NBC could sue the paper if you preprint them verbatim without permission.  Is your editor correct?

• A) He’s right; you need permission.

• B) He’s wrong; you didn’t.

In that story about the pro-life activist, you reveal that she was once arrested for obtaining an illegal abortion herself, back in 1970 (before Roe v. Wade made abortions legal).  She claims that you’ve violated her right to privacy by revealing confidential information about her medical history.  If she takes you to court, can she win her case?

• A) Yes

• B) No

The “fair comment and criticism” privilege allows you the freedom to say whatever you want when you write a review of a public performance.

• True

• False

To establish fault in a libel case, a public official must prove____________________.

• A) both negligence and actual malice

• B) the truth or falsity of the accusation

• C) who else might have been responsible

• D) all of the above

You can publish defamatory statements about people, but as long as you don’t identify them by name, they can’t sue you successfully for libel.

• True

• False

You write a story describing how Al Bino confessed to police after attempting to murder his wife.  After the story runs, a police department spokesman admits they gave you the wrong name; Al Bino was merely a witness to the crime.  Could Al Bino win a libel suit against you for the lie you printed?

• A) Yes

• B) No

Directions: In a few sentences, write about what you would do and why. A football coach tells you he’s benching the school’s star quarterback because “he’s been lazy and stupid.  His head’s not in the game – he’s too busy partying and getting laid.”  Can you print that quote?

Directions: In a few sentences, write about what you would do and why. A local jazz musician dies.  You’re collecting quotes for a profile about her, and one woman says, “She was a brilliant pianist, but the heroin turned her into a thief and a tramp.”  Can you print that comment?

Directions: In a few sentences, write about what you would do and why. After a weeklong manhunt, police finally track down Daryl Lickt and arrest him for murdering his wife.  In the story about his arrest, you refer to Lickt as “the alleged murderer.”  Is it safe to say that?

Directions: In a few sentences, write about what you would do and why. A local doctor who specializes in nutrition says that food served in your school cafeteria is unfit for human consumption and that school cooks are unqualified to know the difference between healthy and unhealthy food.  Can you print her comments?