Other Homework Help

Introduction

You are reporting for The New York Times and are their international correspondent based in Iran.

An Iranian citizen has been arrested and charged with spying in Saudi Arabia. A trial is on in a Saudi Arabian court which will sentence him to death in case he is found guilty of spying for Iran. You have come to know through credible sources in Iran that the Iranian citizen arrested and being tried in Saudi Arabia was indeed an Iranian spy who wanted to expose Saudi Arabia’s support to an international terror group operating in another nation. You face a major moral quandary. Should you publish a news story saying that your sources have said the Iranian citizen was indeed a spying in Saudi Arabia?

You decide to go ahead and publish the story, despite knowing that you will cause great trouble for the Iranian citizen in Saudi Arabian custody.

Directions

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) ethics codes have four major guidelines. Use two SPJ guidelines to justify the decision and use two other SPJ guidelines to oppose the decision of going ahead with identifying the citizen as a spy in the story. Ensure that you use all the four SPJ guidelines in your answer.