Sensitivity and advertising

Ad agency DDB Brasil is facing outrage over an ad it created that used imagery evoking 9/11 to make a point about the tsunami and conservation for client World Wildlife Fund (this story is a touch confusing, so I recommend watching the ad posted at the end).
A print ad ran once in obscurity, and the agency initially claimed it hadn't created a video that was working its way around the Web. But when the blogosphere lit up, everything came out.
What is the role of sensitivity in advertising? Give me an example of a time a shocking ad might be used to positive effect. Do you think this ad should have been created and run? What cross-cultural issues are at play, given that the 9/11 attacks were against the U.S. but this agency is international?

Herald rape story

A 202er submits this post:

Katy,
The Badger Herald published a transcript from a rape victim who was supposedly raped at Sigma Chi. We talked a lot in discussion today over whether its fair that the victim was able to mention the fraternity, but didn't have to release the name of her sorority. Looking at it on the flip side, what if the accused went forward with his side of the story and said the girl's sorority but not his fraternity. Should the accuser have more rights than the accused? Also, would testimony like this unfavorably sway opinion in her favor because the investigation is ongoing? This reminds me a lot of the Duke Lacrosse trial where the team was negatively affected by the charges, even though they were found not guilty. Let me know what you think!

http://badgerherald.com/news/2009/03/04/transcript_of_herald.php

I'm curious what the rest of you think of this case. It's being discussed all over campus. But for our purposes, what are the specific media ethics implications? One thing I found particularly interesting was the content of anonymous comments posted to the Herald site. What are the ethical questions there?

Editorial cartooning

Read about the flap over an NY Post cartoon depicting a chimp?
What do you think? Was it racially insensitive? Does the fact that it gained attention outside the NY market (where far fewer people know the chimp story from which it was supposedly drawn) makes any difference? How much latitude should cartoonists get? Are they freer to be controversial?
Remember the Muhammed cartoon controversy that even hit on our own campus?

Rachael Ray and that Scarf

Food Network star Rachael Ray found herself under fire when she wore a scarf in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial that some interpreted to be a kaffiyeh, a scarf worn by Arab men and often associated with radicalism. It wasn't a kaffiyeh. Mere paisley. But Dunkin' Donuts pulled the spot anyway.
Should they have? What are the consequences to either decision? What's the responsibility of the Fox News commentator who set this off? Should she have learned first whether the scarf was indeed what she thought it was?

Claims of racial bias

A Chicago TV news anchor claims a media critic tinges his work with racial bias.
What do you make of this story? It's covered as an "event" because he said it in a speech. How does the info serve the audience? Do we get enough to come to our own decision on the accusation? What forums did the anchor and the critic have to respond?

Hitler talk

What should be the penalty for inappropriate references? What's inappropriate? Who defines that?

http://thebiglead.com/?p=8527

Communication beyond all reason

I'm going to let this one speak for itself.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_buck16.3d67d4a.html

Privacy and ethics

I'm tardy in posting this great submission from a 202-er.

Hey Katy,

After talking yesterday about how digging through someone's garbage can constitute invasion of privacy, I remembered this story from the Village Voice about how the author happened to find some of Harvey Weinstein's mail in a public trash can. I thought it was interesting enough to pass on.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-07-02/news/trash-talking-with-harvey-weinstein/

What do you think of this?

Ad controversy

When should student publications accept and reject advertising that prompts controversy? Conservative commentator David Horowitz has stirred the pot yet again, this time at UCSB.
What responsibilities do student publishers face? What's the role of free speech here? What's Horowitz's obligation in placing the ad?
This sort of communication reared its head here at the UW a few years back. Then some administrators chimed in. Then still more defended the students.

Social Networks and Tragedy

The issue we've been discussing has hit close to home. I rec'd this message from a former student:

Hey Katy-

I don't know if you still run the blog for 202 anymore, but if so I thought you might find this situation interesting. Channel 3000 posted a link to Brittany Zimmerman's MySpace page next to her picture and the story of her homicide. I, for one, find this to be completely rude and unethical. Thought it might spark some conversation for your class.

What do you think? Connect this to the earlier post on Facebook at UMass.

Facebook and Tragedy

Check out this blog post at the University of Massachusetts. Be sure to read the comments below it. We've covered this terrain in 202 before, and I wrote a column about it for the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
I'm curious what you think of the practice of reporters and editors going into MySpace and Facebook profiles of people after they've died or been injured. Is it ethical? Necessary?

Cover controversy

If you didn't catch it, we've had some chattering this week over a Vogue cover with LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen. Here's one posting, but you can Google for hundreds more.
I thought this note was a great addition to the discussion. Check out the picture comparison.
Do you think it plays to racial or sexual stereotypes? Is it offensive?

Student Newspaper in Hot Water

The student paper at the University of Colorado is under the microscope for publishing an opinion piece that offended many.
Extend this to your own campus. Could this happen at the Cardinal or Herald? Has it? If it does, what means should be used to address the issue? Should the editor be fired?

Race and crime

When I ask you what distinguishes online journalism, some of you answer a key is the space to do more than you could in another medium. This is an amazing and heart-rending illustration of that. I'd love to see them go beyond the blog now, to put some depth to the breadth, particularly by using audio or video to give voice to families that have so often been invisible. I think it's also interesting how on-scene reporting can deepen the kind of data you'd find in everyblock and how race played in different ways for the audience.

Acceptable Lingo or More Morbidity?

OK, you chimed in on Britney Spears. Now check this one out. Is it acceptable for journalists, especially talking heads on broadcast, to refer to tomorrow's primary battle as "Tsunami Tuesday"?
Sensitivity also matters in advertising and public relations (check out the pieces for this week's Discussion Arena).
I have my own view. What's yours?

Gossip Gone Too Far?

Page Six in the NY Post is under fire from some readers and competitors for what appears to be a note about raping a woman who criticized the gossip roundup.
Not known for its subtlety or responsibility, the page seems to have gone a step further than it has before.
What do you think of the reference? Would you have read it as a rape threat? Does the page have a different responsibility (to its subjects and its audience) than straight news pages would? Do scandals like this actually help it by beefing up notoriety (i.e., "there's no such thing as bad publicity")?

Nobel Racist?

I've had one intense week (given your midterms and 202 intensity, I'm sure you can relate). So thanks to the 202ers who send in posts. Here's a new one:

Hi, I still dont know how to post a story we found on the blog, but i think this is quite interesting. A nobel prize winner, now living in england claimed found the
link in dna that made black people less intelligent than white http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3067222.ece

I found a follow up story http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/19/uk.race/index.html

I cant believe someone with this amount of intelligence, i think his nobel prize was for his work in breaking down dna code, could make such ignorant statements.

Hot for Teacher

Hardee's and Carl's Jr are in some hot water over a new ad showing a teacher dancing provocatively while students rap about "flat buns" for a burger. Check out a local news story here and view the ad on YouTube. The parent corporation has already pulled it, after a number of teacher organizations said it was offensive.
What do you think? Is it offensive? Are we taking things too seriously here? Does complaining about it generate a controversy that gives the ad much more attention via outlets like YouTube (and this handy blog)?

Discussion Arena

A 202-er sent this link in after reading about the offensive rape story in the Central Connecticut State University student paper that's posted to our discussion arena. The paper ran a comic strip that has again raised concerns:
NEW BRITAIN - The campus newspaper at Central Connecticut State University, which came under fire earlier this year for printing a satirical article extolling the virtues of rape, is the target of angry protests again after it printed a comic strip this week that made reference to locking a teenage Hispanic girl in a closet and urinating on her.
Check out the whole story.
What responsibilities do student editors have? Should university administration have the power to oust editors or writers? How do the papers here work (by the way, we're the only campus in the country with two daily student newspapers)? What recourse would you have if they published something that offended you? Should you have any recourse at all?