Respondents in a southern state telephone survey agreed that media coverage of public leaders' private lives is an important news media responsibility, with agreement greater for legacy media than for online media, and differing depending on hypothetical scenario. The data also suggest increasing tolerance for such coverage and growing belief in responsibility of media to report on private indiscretions relative to previous studies.

The right to privacy is a moral concept that has been debated for centuries. This article traces the histo y of the concept and examines how the existence of a right to privacy has been defended by philosophers through the years. This article examines the strategies behind those arguments, showing how some of them are more convincing than others. Following this analysis is a practical argument for recognizing a universal right to privacy over intimate relationships and information. Intimacy is a (...) part of human dipity, and revealing it does not tell much about the character of politicians, or anyone else. Intimacy deserves protection. (shrink)

This article argues that afirm and consistent editorial focus on a poilitician's public virtue would serve well as the essence of journalistic communication about piitical character. Public virtue is defined as the ethical character traits attributed to a politician by an editorialist, based on direct obsemation, of the politician's words and deeds, broadly construed. After presenting the theoretical foundation of this definition, via qualitative case-study methodology, this essay analyzes the editorial claims made in the Atlanta newspapers about Gov. Bill Clinton's (...) political character during the 1992 presidential campaign. The Atlanta case demonstrates how a clear focus on public virtue can operate in practice. The conclusion discusses expectations that readers, opinion columnists, and newspaper editors should keep in mind as character issue is broughtforth in the press. (shrink)

The need for those who govern to be accountable to the governed often conflicts with the right of an individual, albeit a public leader, to privacy. This survey found that most Ohio residents believe job performance can be affected by what goes on in private lives, but most don't believe scrutiny of private matters is a media responsibility and find such coverage excessive and unfair. Belief in importance of accountability was related to support for media's responsibility to provide scrutiny, but (...) not to concern with excessiveness and fairness. (shrink)

This study considers the ethical implications of quoting children with particular emphasis on privacy and accuracy. A content analysis is used to examine how newspaper reporters quote children and teenagers. The study found that youths most likely are named when they are quoted in the newspaper. Teens who are 17 are the most likely to be quoted. Youths most frequently appear in feature stories, and they most frequently are treated as experts who provide the reporter with factual information. The researcher (...) argues that journalists should consider the vulnerabilities of youths before quoting them. (shrink)

This article reports the results of two national studies of daily newspaper newsroom managers and their views about coverage of the private lives of politicians and political candidates. The data were collected in 1993 and 1999. The focus of this analysis is on differences between male and female newsroom managers. Studies in both years found some statistical differences between male and female editors, but on different variables from study to study. Overall results, however, found no broad support for the premise (...) that gender shades news judgment on privacy-related matters. In the 1999 study, significant differences were found on issues related to candidate's extramarital affairs and sexual harassment, variables for which men and women arguably have different perspectives. (shrink)