Getting a Story, or Crossing a Line?

Rosa is a young journalist. One typical workday, a few months into her position, Rosa was instructed by Jeremy to go and “stake out” the home of a family whose child had, a few hours beforehand, been injured in a collision with an automobile while riding a bicycle. Rosa faced a dilemma. On the one hand, she felt that, as a reporter, it was sometimes her job to report tough or tragic stories, and that she needed to uphold expectations as a journalist for The Daily by trying to get all the information she could. On the other hand, she felt that she would be “crossing a line” to try to get a family statement immediately after they had been notified of the child’s death, likely their “worst nightmare.”

Rosa is a young journalist. From the time she was a child, Rosa was fascinated by current events, both those that affected her local community and those that she followed from afar. As her parents were active in social causes, she had frequently participated in protests and marches about environmental and civic issues that raised her awareness about the importance of “paying attention.”

Rosa decided by high school that she wanted to pursue a career in journalism. She joined her school newspaper and even held an internship at a broadcast newsroom in order to gain practical experience with how news is produced. Rosa went on to study communications in college. Upon graduation, she was lucky enough to secure a junior field reporter position at a newspaper, The Daily, in the mid-sized city near her hometown. As the newspaper industry has struggled to survive, many papers formerly in the area had closed in the previous decade, and The Daily was the last remaining space in Rosa’s region outside of television where she felt she could apply her skills.

Rosa’s editor, Jeremy, quickly became her trusted mentor and “showed her the ropes” at The Daily, training her in the paper’s writing style and overall culture, including how stories were pitched and assigned. Rosa felt that Jeremy valued her opinions despite her junior status, and she appreciated the way he had welcomed her to his team.

After shadowing a more experienced staff member for a few weeks, Rosa began to go on assignment into the city for The Daily, often following leads that Jeremy had given her. For example, she would travel to the scenes of various incidents such as gun crimes or car accidents, soliciting testimony from eyewitnesses and sometimes from police officials. She would also often attend gatherings such as rallies and protests for social justice causes or vigils for missing or murdered persons, speaking with attendees and organizers.

One typical workday, a few months into her position, Rosa was instructed by Jeremy to go and “stake out” the home of a family whose child had, a few hours beforehand, been injured in a collision with an automobile while riding a bicycle. It was common practice for both print and television journalists to congregate at homes in this manner in the case of a serious injury to a child, with broadcast journalists even reporting live from the neighborhood for their television spots.

Rosa drove to the family’s home on her assignment, with the goal of securing a statement from one of the child’s parents upon arrival. However, by the time she got to the location, she received a text from another reporter on her team letting her know that information had leaked that the injured child had in fact just died at the hospital, which the family had no doubt just found out as well. In these situations, it was expected that Rosa would still try to get a statement from someone in the family. Several other journalists had already arrived on scene as well.

Rosa faced a dilemma. On the one hand, she felt that, as a reporter, it was sometimes her job to report tough or tragic stories, and that she needed to uphold expectations as a journalist for The Daily by trying to get all the information she could. She also felt loyalty to her team and to Jeremy in particular, who trusted her to follow the leads and do her job thoroughly. On the other hand, she felt that she would be “crossing a line” to try to get a family statement immediately after they had been notified of the child’s death, likely their “worst nightmare.” She wanted to respect their privacy in a moment of immense emotional pain that she didn’t think should be exploited or intruded upon for a story.

Rosa wondered what to do. Should she approach the family’s home and try to get a statement, fulfilling her duties as a journalist for The Daily? Or should she do what she thought was personally and morally right, allowing the family to grieve in peace without the intrusion of reporters?

If you were in Rosa’s shoes, what might be some of the factors you would be considering when deciding what to do? Have you ever faced a decision yourself when you felt conflicted between what was expected of you and what you thought was “right”?