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Originally Posted by robot_parade
A reporter's job is *not* to get to know the candidate on a personal level.
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Sure it is. You, as a voter, don't want to know what makes the man tick? Their job is to report on the relavent facts. Sometimes those facts are whether he's a Yankees fan or a Diamondbacks fan. They're humanizing their subject so that there's more to him than a former POW who can't raise his arms above his head and a problem with authority.
Shakran, I'm waiting for your opinion here.
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What if someone I'm interviewing for a job extended the same offer to all the people who just happened to be on his interview team?
What if one provider of services or products for my company made a similar offer to all of the people responsible for purchasing decisions?
What if someone under indictment made a similar offer to the judge, jury, and prosecutor of his case?
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Interviewing for a job? Probably not appropriate, but it's not really a relavent comparison since the "interview team" is the voters, not the reporters.
Purchasing? That's a clear ethical problem since we're talking about a business transaction. We're not in this case. It's a political campaign. The analogy sucks.
Judge, jury and prosecutor? Seriously? I have to respond to this?
Perhaps the best analogy, if you're going to insist on one, is business auditors. Is it ethical for someone who is externally auditiing my business with the intent to recomend to someone else to buy it to take me to dinner to get to know me? If you check with your local business ethics professor, you'll find that it is, especially if you're discussing business. Which was made clear by the "off the record" caveat.
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And it's not a matter of what they will or will not report on, it's a matter of bias. You can't help but be biased in favor of someone you've "hung out with" - not to mention if he sprung for all the expenses and extras. The press covering McCain was already too cozy with him before this, IMNSHO - this is just beyond the pale.
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You know who it's really hard to interview? Strangers. You know who it's hard to figure out who's lying? Strangers.
Was it ethical for Deep Throat to pick Woodward and Bernstein to out CREEP and Nixon? They most certainly profited from it. If you think they didn't, then check the receipts for each of their last books.
And reporters routinely eat for free on the campaign trail, by the way.