Most of the following cases are based on actual situations. Unless otherwise noted, they were written and adapted by Carrie Packwood Freeman, Tom Bivins, and Pete Peterson at the University of Oregon. Case studies are organized into the following topics, which you may access by clicking on the main heading of each section:

News Journalism

  • Handling Sensitive Topics
  • Issues in Photojournalism
  • Conflicts with the Editor
  • Privacy versus “The Publics’ Right to Know”
  • Conflicts of Interest
  • Public Relations & Advertising
  • Objectivity
  • Economic Pressures
  • Defining a Journalist
  • Who’s Greater Good?
  • Electronic Media

Public Relations

  • Spin
  • Transparency
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Withholding Information
  • Moral Claimants

Advertising

  • Transparency
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Potentially Harmful Advertising
  • Image versus Reality
  • Deceptive Advertising
  • Analyzing Print Ads