Freedman's course concentrates on the ethical decisions facing journalists after the high-profile scandal at the Times involving work by reporter Jayson Blair. Some of the topics investigated in the course included "Why be Ethical?" and "Tribal Loyalty vs. Journalistic Obligation."
The final exam for Freedman's class, "Critical Issues in Journalism," was designed to be taken by students within 90 minutes at any time over a 30-hour period. It was an open-book and take-home format that was meant to have been completed online, and would have been graded pass, fail or honors.
However, with students attempting the exam at different times, at least one student who had taken the exam allegedly offered to reveal to at least one other student what the questions were, so that the second student would have had extra time to prepare.
According to The New York Times, the cheating first came to light when a student who was approached told a teaching assistant (TA) about the offer. Apparently the identity of the student(s) who made the approach remained unknown. The fairness of the final exam having been compromised, students in the course were then notified through e-mail that they would have to attend a meeting to address the incident.
A transcript of the e-mail from The New York Observer contained the following statement: "We have encountered a serious problem with the final exam, and will not register a passing grade in the course for anyone who does not attend." Although the meeting was not open to the media, controversy over the matter has refused to abate as students who were present discussed the happenings.
Since then, a new exam question has appeared, with what can only be said to be an obvious parallel to the events on campus. The topic required students to formulate a response as a newspaper's executive editor after the realization that "one or more specified articles in recent editions of the newspaper contained fabricated material." This Thursday will be the deadline.