Donna St. Rogers Homosexuality

First, I do not think that Donna St. George missed an opportunity to ask anybody about Rogers’ sexuality at his official military funeral, which took place at DC’s Arlington National Cemetery. According to the SPJ code of ethics, it states clearly, under the “minimize harm” section that a journalist must “be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.” Rogers had recently died, and he and his loved ones deserved respect and certain space for them to grieve and remember him for who he was.

Besides, many people present in the funeral did not even know that aspect of Rogers’ life: “She couldn’t help noticing that no one spoke about Rogers’ sexuality. ‘I went into the story being told that he …show more content…
I think St. George did well in attending the bed & breakfast, which had a much more relaxed atmosphere. In there she met a few people, including Shay Hill, college roommate and the beneficiary of his will, he stated that Rogers did not “volunteer any additional information on that part of Rogers’ life […] Instead, he decided whom to tell and when on a case-by-case basis.” Hence, Rogers did adhere to the policy well; if he opted, very selectively, who to tell he was about his sexual orientation. I do not think there was other way to know whether such policy affected Rogers, other than asking his peers, but it does seems have affected him, if Rogers handpicked who to tell and who not to tell.

In addition, I think there was enough information to assume he was gay, however, as Downie said, nearly at the end of the case, “I am a member of he Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association […] National Association of Black Journalists […] Hispanic Journalists Association […] Asian Journalist Association, and I am none of those things. I belong to them because I believe in those journalists, and I believe in the issues that the organizations were formed for.” Clearly, as Downie stated, there is always a slight chance of