Last week during Media Day, 26 members of the Hamilton County Leadership Academy had a chance to experience the lives of reporter, editor, and newspaper publisher. The event was sponsored by the Indianapolis Star Media Group and hosted at the North Bureau in Fishers.

Tom Jekel, General Manager of the Indianapolis Star Media Group, led an ethics panel by presenting four case studies that included ethical dilemmas that newspaper staffers face. The participants were able to make their own publishing decisions to understand the challenges that the press faces everyday.

Gannett newspapers' ethical guidelines consist of five basic principles: seeking and reporting the truth in a truthful way, serving the public interest, exercising fair play, maintaining independence, and acting with integrity.

Other featured panels were News as We See It, a newspaper panel discussion; an alternative-media panel; and "Disruptive Innovation: How the Newspaper Industry Is Reaching New Audiences With Risk-Taking Strategies," a presentation by Kevin Poortinga, Vice President/Product Development at The Indianapolis Star.

An event like this can foster a closer relationship between the community and the press, since the readers can actually experience the challenges of journalism, though only for a day.

Source: IndyStar