Did she step over the line?

Media experts from around the nation weigh in on whether NBC5's Amy Jacobson crossed the line, from a journalism ethics standpoint:

YES
"While it is true that many journalists have friendships -- often unwise friendships -- the magnitude of this case, where there is a missing person investigation, possibly a homicide investigation, is not the same as somebody who is covering the Knights of Columbus or the local Big Brothers. In this case, where it's a missing person investigation of this magnitude, any kind of friendship with someone involved in the story seems exceptionally unwise." -- Bob Steele, Nelson Poynter scholar of journalism at the Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Fla.

YES
"You just don't do that. [The reporter] may be thinking she may get better material by getting close to these people . . . but you just don't become part of their family, you don't become their friend and you don't go swimming in their pool. You don't become part of the story -- it's unprofessional." -- Joe Saltzman, journalism professor, University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communications

MAYBE
"If getting into a bathing suit is covering the story, I guess that might be OK. She has to weigh the information she is going to get against questions that will be raised [by those] who see her behavior. I don't know the value of the information she might get for her story." -- Felix Gutierrez, journalism professor, USC