Received Hacked Info? Now What?

Event | September 18, 2024

The recent hack of Trump campaign documents raises important ethical considerations for journalists to weigh and debate: Under what circumstances, if any, is it ethical for journalists to publish information from hacked files, especially during an election race, and to what extent are the hackers' motivations relevant to the question?

Ballot box

Date:

September 18, 2024

Time:

Noon to 2 p.m.

Location:

NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute
7th Floor Commons
20 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003

Submit your questions!

This summer, reporters received emails offering access to internal Trump campaign documents, including a dossier prepared to identify potential vulnerabilities of J.D. Vance before he was selected as Trump’s running mate. The campaign had been hacked by Iran.

What’s a journalist to do? Under what circumstances, if any, is it ethical for journalists to publish information from hacked files, especially during an election race, and to what extent are the hackers’ motivations relevant to the question?

Please join us Wednesday, Sept. 18, for lunch and a spirited panel discussion “Received Hacked Info? Now
What?” as we explore and debate the issues. Our panel of seasoned journalists includes Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semafor and former media columnist at the New York Times, and Sewell Chan, editor in chief of the Texas Tribune and soon-to-be executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review. EJI Director Stephen Adler will moderate the discussion.

The program, including lunch, will be held at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute building at 20 Cooper Square in New York City.

Register for the event here (RSVP required). For additional information, please contact EJI Program Manager Ryan Howzell at Ryan.Howzell@nyu.edu.

(Photo credit: Associated Press)

Recommended Reading:

On Hacked Documents, Journalism and the Motives of Sources by Dick Tofel, originally published in Second Rough Draft.