MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian Offers Advice on Reporting Leaks and Managing Sensitive Stories
Jordan Lewis
Situation Definition:
On Thursday, October 24th, MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian spoke to Penn State students and faculty about the details of his career, and how to navigate potentially dangerous situations as a journalist. During his speech, Dilanian touched on two important topics that have the potential to be surrounded in ethical controversy: reporting leaked information and managing sensitive stories such as mass shooting coverage. In his case, the two issues Dilanian discussed involved an impeachment inquiry directed towards President Trump via a whistleblower, and his own story on an FBI victim specialist’s ability to deal with mourning families.
Analysis:
News of a whistleblower’s accusations against Trump came to light a few weeks ago after the still nameless whistleblower felt they were not being taken seriously by the CIA. Essentially, the accusations regarded a phone call between President Trump and Ukraine about whether or not the American leader pressured a foreign government in exchange for a political favor. While exactly what Trump desired out of the call is yet to be discovered, extortion, bribery and campaign finance are some of the potential allegations being thrown around. Despite pieces of the puzzle that are still being assembled, a number of ethical concerns plagued the story as the identity of the whistleblower had to be protected at all cost, and Dilanian admitted while reporting some of the leaked information was necessary, it came at a risk.
However, Dilanian utilized some of his top sources in Washington to discover that multiple senior government officials appointed by Trump himself found the whistleblowers complaints about Trump’s call to be valid. One source even went on record to say that there was a “reasonable basis to believe a crime had been committed.” Dilanian then went on to explain how Trump “violates the norms of being a president on a daily basis.” He said stories that would be huge for any other president don’t get covered because of even more breaking news stories such as the Ukraine call. After the Justice Department chose to do a legal analysis of only a very narrow part of the story, Dilanian’s motivation to continue to report on the whistleblower’s suspicion grew as he felt there was no real action taken. In agreeance with Dilanian, David Schulz, a council member for The Guardian US, believes whistleblowers are absolutely necessary for the success of the journalism. “There is an ability to find out who gave out any information. And we should all be very concerned about that, because we need whistleblowers. If we don’t have a mechanism that allows for whistleblowers, our whole society is going to suffer” (Kirchner 2014).
Onto the second half of his speech, Dilanian reviewed a personal story on how the FBI helps mass shooting victims. Before writing this piece, Dilanian mentioned he saw a story on what happens when the FBI shoots someone and the investigative process that follows that which inspired him to create his own. Dilanian wrote about a woman who put everyone before herself and especially so after the Las Vegas country concert shooting. The subject of his story arranged for therapy, a place for the husband of a woman who got shot a place to stay, took care of flights, and even returned a license to the wife who was shot. According to Dilanian, the FBI worker dealt with the emotional aspect of her job later as she could not balance that and her job’s responsibilities at the same time.
Accompanied by his writing, Dilanian included an interview with the worker which revealed her emotions about her job and led the MSNBC reporter to explain the importance of avoiding sensationalizing these types of stories. Similarly, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York, Jaclyn Schildkraut, believes sensationalizing mass shooting coverage can lead to future harm. “Reporters and news outlets should strive to present only the facts of the case and do so in a neutral manner, while simultaneously toning down the imagery that accompanies the pieces. By identifying something as “the worst,” it incentivizes others to aim to exceed the number killed under the belief that they will get even more media attention than the event in question” (Schildkraut 2019).
Conclusion:
To conclude his speech, Dilanian offered some words of advice in line with the stories and situations he discussed. He stressed as a journalist it’s imperative to remind the audience why they should care, especially through stories with a lot of characters. Dilanian also emphasized almost every source in every story has an agenda and it’s the reporter’s job to negotiate exactly what a source is trying to get across. By attending the speech, I learned the value of whistleblowers in today’s society, and how to navigate stories involving the nameless sources. Additionally, I discovered a new perspective of mass shooting coverage as I never predicted the challenges that came with a story about those who help mass shooting victims, and how they’re treated in media. All in all, it’s important to discuss these issues as everyone should have the right to access public information but understand some of the costs that come with reporting on the subjects of sensitive topics.
References:
KIRCHNER, L. (2014). How free is the free press? Columbia Journalism Review, 52(6), 21–22. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=95334966&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Jaclyn Schildkraut* (2019). ARTICLE: A Call to the Media to Change Reporting Practices for the Coverage of Mass Shootings. Washington University Journal of Law & Policy, 60, 273. Retrieved from https://advance-lexis-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/api/document?collection=analytical-materials&id=urn:contentItem:5XB5-JMM1-FBV7-B3C8-00000-00&context=1516831.