Journalism Ethics

Adam Reilly of The Boston Phoenix wrote an article about the recent conflicts of interest in journalism for the upcoming election. He raises the question, why some journalistic conflicts of interests gain more coverage than others?

The big news is about Gwen Ifill, she was the moderator for the recent vice presidential debate. Ifill has a book coming out about Barack Obama and his breakthrough into politics. The assumption by Republicans was Ifill would not be fair to Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate.

Also, other big news during the financial crisis is about NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell. She reports on financial matters and is married to Alan Greenspan, who is the former head of the Federal Reserve. She made a statement on NBC programming that financial troubles started in some financial institutions in 2006 and 2007. This was after Greenspan stepped down as head of the Federal Reserve. Some media outlets believe she was trying to save her husband by pointing out that he was not apart of the financial troubles.

So the real question is how can journalist stand clear from being exposed to conflicts of interests and reporting bias?

A journalist needs to figure out...

1. What is their affiliation with a news event, story or person? (If the story involves a person.)
-If a journalist has a personal relationship with a person, there is going to be some type of bias.

2. Can I cover another news event?

3. Have I ever written anything in support of a person, outside of my profession?

4. Do I have a strong support or dislike of the subject matter?

5. Is it possible for me to stay objective on the topic?

6. Can I let the public know my affiliation with a subject matter before providing a report?

7. Will the public think any less of my credibility if I am in strong support or dislike of a certain subject matter?

8. Will I be able to answer questions from the media regarding my conflicts of interest on a subject matter?