MARCH/APRIL 2016 gambling with credibility The tangled web newsrooms weave when they're not transparent and aim to deceive. Every year the Society of Professional Journalists recognizes students, advisers and professional members who play a vital role in the Society’s fight to improve and protect journalism. Nominate an SPJ member today for one of the following honors: HOWARD S. DUBIN OUTSTANDING PRO MEMBER AWARD The award salutes individual professional members who have made significant contributions to the Society. JULIE GALVAN OUTSTANDING GRADUATE IN JOURNALISM AWARD The award honors a graduating journalism student who is outstanding in his or her class on the basis of character, service to the community, scholarship, proficiency in practical journalism and significant contributions to his or her SPJ chapter. DAVID L. ESHELMAN OUTSTANDING CAMPUS ADVISER AWARD The award honors an individual who has done an outstanding job serving as SPJ campus adviser and who has contributed to his or her chapter and the national organization over an extended period of time. REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD The award honors an outstanding SPJ regional director. NOMINATION DEADLINE: APRIL 17 2 016 For more details and nomination forms, visit spj.org/awards.asp or contact SPJ at 317.927.8000 or [email protected]. MARCH/APRIL 2016 VOLUME 104 NUMBER 2 FEATURES MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE NEWSROOM WALL 14 The sale of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the potential for Bloom- berg News to cover its namesake’s presidential ambitions, contro- versy within NPR’s leadership. The mark of an ethical news outlet is not only how it covers others but how it reports (or doesn’t) on itself. A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE 5 24 It’s Dec. 24 on the East Coast, and one lifelong reporter in Con- necticut is about to make a tremendously difficult decision: take an ethical stance and quit his job. While it’s a principled stand, it’s a hard one, especially since it involves not just his own boss and newspaper, but the tangled web of intrigue surrounding the sale of a newspaper 2,600 miles away. MIND THE MILITARY 32 Though military and veterans issues are common news topics, relatively few journalists cover the U.S. armed services as a regular beat. But that doesn’t mean the GA reporter in a non-military town won’t need to contact official sources for a story. When the need arises, how does the average journalist get access to institutions and people that are, by nature, tight lipped? 10 14 DEPARTMENTS 3 FROM THE PRESIDENT 5 SPJ REPORT 10 10 WITH WALTER “ROBBY” ROBINSON 12 QUILL THROUGH THE YEARS TOOLBOX 9 WORDS & LANGUAGE Don’t be tricked by tricky word pairs. 21 EDUCATION Go ahead: frack the flack speak. 23 FREELANCE Survive (and thrive at) the dreaded networking mixer. 29 ETHICS When it comes to false balance, as Admiral Ackbar would warn: “It’s a trap!” 31 NARRATIVE WRITING Use your powers of observation to go far beyond routine event coverage story. 38 DIVERSITY Sometimes the easiest skill is the most overlooked: listen. 39 FOI To understand non-profits, get intimate with IRS Form 990. 40 DIGITAL MEDIA 24 Restraint is not only OK but necessary in covering breaking news via social media. 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Kate Hiller, Ohio University – Athens, Ohio » [email protected] mailing label. 2 Quill MARCH/APRILMAY/JUNE 2014 2016 FROM THE PRESIDENT At the leading edge of journalism ethics ERE ARE THREE journalism news items from with the El Chapo piece. The article came with a dis- Hthe past few months: claimer: “An understanding was brokered with the sub- 1. Actor Sean Penn, in a piece for Rolling Stone, inter- ject that this piece would be submitted for the subject’s views Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, a Mexican drug approval before publication. The subject did not ask for lord known as “El Chapo.” He and the magazine give El any changes.” Chapo prior approval to the article before publication. The third tenet of the Code, “Act Independently,” 2. Reporters rush into the home of Syed Farook and was not changed during the 2014 revision. Prior approval Tashfeen Malik in San Bernardino, Calif., with cameras and gives the subject control of the information, which makes microphones, seeking any detail in the lives of the mass it suspect. Even if El Chapo did not ask for changes, this murderers who killed 14 people in a shooting. was a mistake. 3. The Adelson family buys the Las Vegas Review- The rush into the shooters’ apartment in San Ber- Journal, Nevada’s largest newspaper. The purchasers re- nardino was appalling to many journalists. During the PAUL FLETCHER main a secret until the paper’s own staff uncovers the deal. first wave, at least one anchor at a major network asked 2015-16 SPJ President Paul How does one make sense of these stories and how that the video cut away from what was happening.