Case Study: Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Media and Reviews

This case study presents three learning problems involving ethical and legal dilemmas. The first scenario focuses on a media communications officer who reports a colleague's anti-government tweets, leading to the colleague's dismissal. The second problem involves a news report detailing the arrest of a man for the murder and rape of an elderly woman, raising issues of criminal law and forensic evidence. The final case presents two reviews of motels on a review website, one positive and one negative, posted from the same IP address, raising issues of defamation and fake reviews. The case studies prompt the examination of ethical considerations, legal implications, and potential consequences in each situation, including defamation, privacy, and workplace ethics.

Learning problem #1.
The tweeting PR person
You are employed in a State Government environment department as a media
communications officer. You know your colleague – employed at the same
level as you - is highly opinionated against the current government’s policies. A
friend brings to your attention the fact that your colleague has been tweeting
highly critical messages opposing the government’s shark netting policies using
the anonymous Twitter handle @ecowarrior. You feel conflicted but decide to
report the behaviour to your boss. A few days later you learn that the
department is going to dismiss her over her anti-government tweets.
Learning problem #2.
MORETON ISLAND SEX KILLER ARRESTED
By LOIS LANE
Police have arrested the man who murdered and raped an elderly woman on
Moreton Island in Queensland last month.
Edith Johnston was found dead in her Moreton Island home four weeks ago.
Labourer David Smith is expected to be charged later today.

Detectives visited his Cleveland home on Monday morning and later escorted
him into Roma Street headquarters.
During the investigation, Mr Smith had described himself as a friend of Mrs
Johnston who would do odd jobs for her on his weekend fishing visits to the
island.
Mr Smith was also the man who raised the original alarm to police, concerned
the 93-year-old woman was not answering her door when he had knocked.
Police found Mrs Johnston naked in her bathroom when they attended to
check on her.
She had lived alone in the single story fibro bungalow since her husband Fred
died in 2010.
Neighbour and friend Liz Wallis said she was in disbelief that a potential
serious crime had been committed on a usually peaceful island.
She said: "This is not Moreton Island, believe me - things like this don’t happen
here. We just can't understand it. We’re devastated."
Police questioned Smith for more than three hours last Wednesday after
forensic experts determined the woman had been the victim of a sex murder.
A police media spokesperson said Smith had made several admissions to them
during that interview and said he had been drinking heavily for several hours
prior to the attack.

His home computer had been seized and incriminating pornographic images
had been found on it.
Police said his eight-year-old daughter Phoebe was being cared for by her
grandparents.
Smith was a prime suspect in a similar attack on a Redland Bay woman, Doris
Dupain, 78, in 2008. According to investigating detectives, Mrs Dupain survived
the assault and was willing to testify, however Smith’s ex-girlfriend provided
him with an alibi and crucial DNA evidence was misplaced in the police
laboratory.
The police spokesperson said there would be no such error this time round.
“We have collected incriminating DNA from both the victim and the suspect
and this kind of data doesn’t lie. We expect to formally charge Smith within
hours,” she said.
Mrs Johnston was a retired school music teacher who often played piano at
community gatherings and on Sundays at the Moreton Uniting Church services.
“She was such an endearing person and very talented,” Ms Wallis said. “She
didn’t deserve to die in such a horrible traumatic way.
“I have no doubt this Smith guy did it. He would hang around her place like a
bad smell and always had a nasty look about him. My guess is that he preyed
on lonely widows like this.”

A Google search reveals a David Smith from Cleveland was convicted of several
drug offences in 2005 and aggravated assault of 74-year-old Agnes Bethany
Steele in 2003.
The arrest follows the Premier’s emotional address to Parliament last week
vowing to “commit every possible resource to finding the monster who has
done this”.
COMMENTS BY READERS (for you to moderate)
@Ragin’Randy: I’m a Moreton resident and I’ve seen this dude around. He had
EVIL tattoed on his arm and trouble written all over him!
@214GraceJane: Edith was such an active member of our church group. We’ll
miss her badly. RIP Edith.
@RoadRunner13: My husband works in police forensics and that’s not true
about the lost DNA evidence. Either way, they’ve got him this time!

@RevSteveParish: God bless you Edith. You didn’t deserve this but you’re with
our Lord now.
@DavyJones: Just hang the bastard and be done with it so we can get back to
our fishing on Moreton.
Learning problem #3.
The scathing review
You run a popular accommodation reviews website called ‘True Blue Reviews’
which is famous for its frank ratings of Australian hotels and motels. While you
are happy to run critical – even scathing – reviews, you are very wary of
defamation action and try to keep within the bounds of key defences. You are
also wary of fake reviews posted by competitors trying to steer business from
another hotel to their own. Two reviews of motels at the tiny fishing village of
Dolphin Bay have been posted within the past few hours.
Fisherman’s Lodge – Rating 1/10 – The staff are so unfriendly we thought we
were staying at Fawlty Towers. Bathroom plumbing is hanging out of the wall
and the toilet hasn’t been scrubbed in weeks. Bed bugs big enough to use for
bait. Our advice: ‘Dodge the Lodge’. – Steve and Penny Daltrone, Port Lincoln

Dolphin Delight – Rating 10/10 – The name says it all – it is sheer heaven for
anyone wanting to enjoy the delights of Dolphin Bay. Smiling staff, sparkling
amenities, and a welcoming hibiscus flower on the starched white linen. Home
away from home, just metres from pristine waters. – Doris Parchley, Suffolk,
United Kingdom.
Strangely, though, both comments were posted from the same computer IP
address in – you guessed it – Dolphin Bay, Australia.