Vanessa Reyes
JRN 349: Editing for Print & Online Media
Professor. Pearson
11/15/2015
Essay # 3 First, consider the sources intents and or motives before promising obscurity. Reserve anonymity for sources who may come across peril, retaliation or other hazardous exposure, and include information that cannot be retrieved elsewhere. Explain why obscurity was allowed--If your publication has a policy, let’s say not identifying a sexual assault victim, it is understanding how to treat such a person. After all, there’s no law that says your publication can’t single out that victim.

Second, you as a copyeditor should know your publication’s policies inside and out and be able to make recommendations based on them. For instance identifying suspects in crimes before they’re charged
“The Associated Press had written stories with many of Stacy Peterson’s relatives or Drew Peterson’s acquaintances saying they heard Drew say, or heard Stacy say about Drew, that maybe he wanted to kill her; sometimes your publication’s policies or bosses set a clear guidance on how to grip specific cases. But sometimes they don’t, and it’s up to the copy desk to hash them out. “(Horan; 2011.)

Not forgetting to mention--sometimes your publication’s policies or bosses set a clear lead on how to manage certain cases. But sometimes they don’t, and it’s up to the copy desk to stew them out. A doctor is charged with malpractice, accused of murdering a patient due to the large breast implant size. “Your publication obtains basic information from the police, all public record, free of libel concerns.” (Doran; 2013.) But you also get an interview with the woman’s husband, who talks about how mortified his wife was. What do you do? Regardless if you believe the allocation stated “he could have murdered my daughter is backbiting, you have the mother saying several other things that certainly are more dubious, like After it happened, my wife went unconscious. It was just a grisly experience for her--Do you want to let the husband have her full control of the conversation, without the doctor providing their complete story? You can tip the question off your partners or co-workers to see if your questions are credible. Then you can deliberate your copy desk chief. “The chief may know what to do automatically or may suggest discussing the situation with the content editor manages the story or with the reporter; you’ll have to be able to communicate your policy and review the ethics of the matter, then everyone has to agree on a resolution—or your chief must make it. (“Doran; 2013.)

Next, ethical situations are not comprised of crimes. Sometimes they come up in numbers. For example, “Illinois’s governor wanted to raise the personal income tax rate from 3 to 5 percent.” (Holdman; 2011.) “That’s an increase of 2 percentage points, not 2 percent-- If you want to talk about the increase in agreement of a percentage change, it’s really a 67 percent.” (Holdman; 2011)

Lastly, the ethical dilemmas copyeditors face are continuous. Your publication must start to address them with written policies. If your publication doesn’t include them, take initiative to jot them yourself. “Your policies can answer such questions as what crimes should we report on? Every one? Even shoplifting? Every DUI? Students’ underage drinking parties with only tickets issued? At what point do you identify suspects in crimes? Is “person of interest” enough?” (Holdman; 2011.) There are privacy, accuracy, and burglarizing risks involved. Your publication must contemplate how it looks upon people. It’s a balance between providing the news --What should people know? And the behavior towards people--How would you expect to conduct around individuals? As you make policy, you will need to discuss these issues with many of your comrades, right up to the top editor. And keep in mind, no set of policies can beset everything because odd circumstances will always occur.
Sources:
Doran, R. (2013, October 15). Copy-editors: What They Really Do. Retrieved November 15, 2015, from http://catherineryanhoward.com/2013/10/15/copy-editors-what-they-really-do

Holdman, N. (2011, August 1). What copyeditors need to know about ethics. Retrieved November 15, 2015, from http://www.copyediting.com/what-copyeditors-need-know-about-ethics