Reference no: EM133382834

Case Study: You cover student government for the student newspaper at Freedonia University. A big story on campus this week is a ballot-box "stuffing" effort that led to sanctions against Gabba Gabba Hey, a social organization. Apparently, Gabba Gabba Hey members were able to create extra votes for the Student Government Association presidential candidate backed by their organization.

University officials say disciplinary action has been taken against the organization, but it will not say what. Officials cite student privacy rules when refusing to say whether additional action has been taken against any individuals, and they will not provide specific names of Gabba Gabba Hey members. The president of Gabba Gabba Hey has no comment.

But you are a solid journalist who does more than rely on official sources. An acquaintance, who is friends with some Gabba Gabba Hey members, tells you that the fraternity members will be required to spend a week scrubbing university floors as punishment. Your friend also tells you that the instigator behind the plan was a member named Sidney Bracey, an 18-year-old political science major. Your source says Bracey will either be suspended or will be required to work a month cleaning floors.

When you talk to Bracey, he will neither confirm nor deny that he instigated the ballot box stuffing. But he pleads with you not to print his name in the paper in connection with the incident. "It could ruin my life," he said, but he wouldn't explain what he meant by that.

The student paper publishes weekly, and before the next print edition a local blog, breaks the news about the election issue. The blog post has no named sources, but it names the group and describes its punishment. It also calls Bracey the instigator, although it does not say whether Bracey was punished and has no indication whether the blog attempted to reach Bracey for comment.

Question: Your writing deadline is tomorrow. The paper's lead story will be your story about the apparent election fraud, and you plan to mention Gabba Gabba Hey's involvement. But you're not sure whether to print Bracey's name. You feel fairly sure he's the one and feel comfortable with your source. But in the back of your head you still hear Bracey's plea. And you wonder whether it's big enough news on campus that you need to print his name.