Micro Issues

$1.$ Does proper attribution solve the ethical problem of aggregation? If

not, do you have an alternative idea?

$2.$ If news organizations voluntarily agree to offer their content to be

aggregated under specific conditions, does that eliminate the ethical

issues?

Midrange Issues

$1.$ Evaluate the following statement: Credibility, one of the foundations

of journalism, is predicated on $$the notion that those who report the

news are not obstructed from digging up and telling the truth$$ and

that the journalists can tell $$the news not only accurately but also

persuasively$($Kovach and Rosenstiel $2007,53).$ Can an aggregator

be expected to be a watchdog over information that their media

outlet did not create?

Information Ethics $63$

$2.$ How are content aggregators such as the Huffington Post distinct,

in an ethical sense, from long$-$standing cooperatives such as the

Associated Press?

Macro Issues

$1.$ Is aggregation an issue primarily of economics or ethics? If

aggregators such as Google News paid for content, would that solve

the problem?

$2.$ Who $$owns$$ the news? Does a media outlet have the right to

require that a consumer pay for information that he or she needs to

be a participant in a democratic society? Did the framers of the Bill

of Rights give any clues in this area?