Winter got more from the undercover interviews than just footage of the puppies for sale and images of adult pit bulls snapping and growling for the camera. He got the sense that the ban was being ignored not just by breeders selling dogs online. One of the breeders admitted to Winter that the dogs were […]
Case Studies
5. The Pit Bull Problem
The changes made to the Dog Owners’ Liability Act in 2005 effectively implemented the first government-mandated breed ban in North America. The ban defined “pit bull” to include several breeds — pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, American pit bull terriers and any dog that “has an appearance and physical characteristics substantially […]
4. When is Undercover Work Justified?
Most journalistic organizations have codes of conduct to guide the decisions of reporters, including actions while undercover. The Toronto Star is no exception. The Star’s Newsroom Policy and Journalistic Standards Guide states that “journalists must clearly identify themselves as journalists gathering information for possible publication, be it in person, on the telephone or through social […]
3. Identifying Sources from an Undercover Investigation
The use of undercover techniques poses a second substantial ethical dilemma. Does lying to or misleading a source in order to get the story influence how the source should be presented? Does a journalist have an obligation to protect the identity of that source? These questions represent a deviation from journalism’s presumptive starting point that […]
2. When Journalists Go Undercover
Undercover techniques date back to the early 1900s [1] and questions about the ethics of this approach have been debated for almost as long. The likes of Hunter S. Thompson and Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (writing as Nellie Bly) are two of the most legendary names in undercover journalism [2]. Their respective reports from inside the […]
1. The Breed Ban Dilemma
The Toronto Star’s undercover footage identified two breeders claiming to sell banned pitbull puppies, but was it fair to make the unaware breeders the faces of Ontario’s failed ban? Case Study by Abigail Plener, Samantha Relich and Brittany Spencer February 2017 Introduction Since the Ontario government made changes to the Dog Owners’ Liability Act in […]
3. Graphic content and broadcast policy
CBC and Global are both subject to the Broadcasting Act, which makes no direct mention of airing images of violence. Instead, it defers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which has established criteria that calls for graphic content advisories, restricts gratuitous or glamorized violence, and states when graphic content can be aired [1]. […]
2. Sensationalism or public interest? The ethical question
Krop says she felt that the jarring and graphic footage of a young girl being stabbed not only highlighted a possible lack of safety in B.C. schools, but could catalyze the effort to rectify the problem. Burgess had to make a judgement for her audience: Was the video in the public interest? Could the video be that […]
1. Global goes to air: “‘Have you no souls? Have you no heart?’”
Global B.C. chose to air a blurred version of the video. Global B.C. news director Jill Krop says it was a difficult decision, and one that was met with shock, anger, and even a petition on Change.org, calling for her immediate resignation. The fallout from Global’s broadcast prompted Krop to defend her decision on CKNW, an […]
Graphic content: When is it worth airing?
Case study by Olivia Chandler, Katerina Georgieva, Gregory Furgala and Kieran Delamont January 2017 Introduction On the morning of November 1, 2016, a young male entered Abbotsford Senior Secondary School in British Columbia and stabbed two teenagers at random. A bystander caught the incident on video, which showed one victim on the ground, trying to […]