Ethics in Journalism

Today, in my journalism class, we read a story to illustrated a journalists decisions regarding his own interpretation of the code of ethics for journalism. A police officer had committed suicide while on duty in hopes of getting compensation for 'death in the line of duty.' The journalist discovered that the officer had committed suicide. He was told by the detective, though, that although the man had committed suicide, his family had been going through some tough times. If he reported the fact that it had been suicide and not murder, than the family would not receive the money an officer's family receives for their death. He followed the code of ethics and reported the truth. A journalist's job is to report the truth and not lie to the public and as a result he followed this rule and said that it was suicide.
Another rule in the code of ethics is to minimize harm. The journalist knew that the family was struggling and as a result of the death, losing a source of income. He chose to possibly cut off a source of income for the family by reporting the story. A few months later, he discovered that the family had received compensation for the death of the officer. The journalist had to decide whether or not to report this story. He chose not to because he wanted to minimize harm. He did not want to see innocent people thrown into a worse situation because he reported this story. They got help from their husband/father's former work. The journalist knew that they most likely needed help and he did not want to harm an already grieving family anymore.