Case No. 1

Local government has redeveloped a section of an otherwise blighted part of the city. Tax incentives have encouraged business investment. The project was created as a stimulus for economic growth in the surrounding neighborhood. At first the project takes off: Businesses move in, curious shoppers are drawn to the stores, city officials report a growing sense of optimism.

But after a year, negative signs appear. A couple of the businesses close up. Curiosity satisfied, shoppers from other parts of the city stop patronizing the stores.

A reporter is assigned to find out whether other businesses there are also on the ropes. He comes back with a story that two more stores are about to fail. But there are complications. Officials have asked him not to print the story for a week because they have contracts out with three new companies. If the negative news runs in the newspaper before the signed contracts are returned, they say, the deals may fall through and taxpayer funds may end up wasted.

As an editor would you:

• Hold the story for a week?
• Publish the story, but either tone down the negative aspects or run just a brief version on an inside page?
• Publish the original story right away in a prominent place?
• Publish the original plus the request of the officials?

Case No. 2

A young couple telephones to ask that the newspaper not run an announcement of their marriage. The newspaper's policy is clear: Publish all marriage reports listed as a public record in the Court Clerk's office. This request, however, has an unusual twist.

The newlyweds are medical students. After falling in love, they tried for a while to live apart. But because they intended to get married once they graduated from medical school anyway, they decided to become husband and wife without telling their families. The quiet marriage, they reasoned, would spare them out-of-town celebrations at a time when they needed to concentrate on their studies, and it also would allow them to economize on severely strained budgets. They did not want to live together out of wedlock.

Now they have a problem they want you to solve: Their families, knowing of their engagement, have surprised them with plans for a big wedding to be held after their final exams for the year. If the news of their marriage is published, the plans will be ruined, the families disheartened.

Would you:

• Make an exception to policy for them?
• Refuse their request on the grounds that it would set a precedent for other couples and make it difficult for you to maintain a policy based on equal treatment?

Case No. 3

A police reporter notes on the police log that the bomb squad has responded to a bomb threat at an abortion clinic. Although the squad did not find a bomb, the reporter writes a story about the police response.

The newspaper's policy is not to report bomb threats because such stories tend to encourage other threats. The policy is based on the lengthy experience of newspapers throughout the country. Years ago, for instance, there was a rash of fire alarms at local schools. At first, the newspaper reported each one, even with pictures of students parading out the school doors. The alarms multiplied until publicity stopped.

A threat at an abortion clinic falls into a different category, however. Clinics elsewhere in the country have been bombed. Does that elevate a local threat into a legitimate news story?

In addition, there have been unconfirmed reports that a person who is wanted in connection with a clinic bombing in another city has been seen in your city.

Would you:

• Run the story as is?
• Kill the story on the grounds of established policy?
• Hold the story until you can check with a superior, even though that would make it a day older getting into the paper?
• Hold the story until the representatives of local anti-abortion groups can be asked for their reactions?

Case No. 4

A 17-year-old is arrested for stealing a magazine from a convenience store. The newspaper reports shoplifting arrests in its daily agate roundup of police and court activity. But it would not ordinarily include this incident because it has a policy against publishing arrests for thefts that involve less than $10.

A reporter notices, however, that the last name of the juvenile is the same as that of the local juvenile court judge. He checks it out, and finds that the juvenile is the judge's son.

This complicates the editor's decision because the judge has been on a campaign against shoplifting by juveniles. The newspaper, in fact, had recently run a news story about the campaign and had quoted the judge extensively.

Would you:

• Follow policy and not run a report of the theft?
• Run the report because of the prominence of the father?
• Run the report because of the special circumstances of the judge's campaign?
• Ask the judge whether he thinks the story should run?
• Call the judge and ask for his comments; then run the story?