The Promise and Peril of Anecdotes in News Coverage: An Ethical Analysis

David A. Craig

10 citations0/0 files storedJournalism & Mass Communication Quarterly

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Journalism and Media Studies Media Studies and Communication Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis

Abstract

This article assesses the use of anecdotes in news coverage on ethical grounds, pointing both to their promise and to their potential dangers. The analysis draws on Craig's framework for analyzing news coverage of ethics; on Christians, Ferre, and Fackler's communitarian ethic; and on Gilligan's relationship-oriented ethic of care. Cases from news stories illustrate the ethical complexity of anecdote use. This study suggests how journalists can choose anecdotes more critically and points to an adaptation of the anecdotal form that is ethically supportable.

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References

1973On the psychology of prediction.1999The Effects of News Frames on Readers' Thoughts and Recall 1976Dominance of accuracy information and neglect of base rates in probability estimation 1994Exaggerated Versus Representative Exemplification in News Reports 1994Good news: social ethics and the press 1998On the Relevance of Standpoint Epistemology to the Practice of Journalism: The Case for "Strong Objectivity"1996Effects of Victim Exemplification in Television News on Viewer Perception of Social Issues 1973A case of radical probability estimation.

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