Public Death, Private Life: Army Major Alan Rogers and the <i> Washington Post</i>
This case examines the challenges of reporting on a private individual’s sexual orientation. In March 2008, the Washington Post was tipped that a decorated Army major had been the first openly gay military officer killed in Iraq. But as the Post reported the story, it discovered that it was far from clear that he was open about his sexuality, especially to his military colleagues. How should the Post cover his death?
Case number:
CSJ-09-0016.0
Category:
Journalism Cases
Topics:
ethics, gender & race, privacy
Teaching resources:
Epilogue,
Teaching note