Thinking Clearly Cases in Journalistic Decision-Making

This is a survey of real-life moments when people working in the news had to make critical decisions. Questions of craft, ethics, competition and commerce combine in case studies that examine the issues that shape the production and presentation of the news in the 21st century.



Written by leading professional journalists and classroom-tested at schools of journalism, Thinking Clearly is designed to provoke conversation about the issues that shape the production and presentation of the news in the twenty-first century. These case studies depict real-life moments when people working in the news had to make critical decisions. Bearing on questions of craft, ethics, competition, and commerce, they cover a range of topics-the commercial imperatives of newsroom culture, standards of verification, the competition of public and private interests, including the question of privacy-in a variety of key episodes: Watergate, the Richard Jewell case, John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign, and the Columbine shooting, among others.