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Originally Posted by robot_parade
I know this story is a little bit old, but I just can't get over it.
All professions have standards of integrity. Doctors have the hippocratic oath, lawyers and other 'white collar' professions generally have organizations, standards, and sometimes even laws regulating their behavior. Blue collar workers are generally expected to be honest, deal fairly, do the work they commit to doing, etc.
Journalists also have what is called 'journalistic integrity'.
Let's pretend you are a journalist covering a candidate for president. He invites you and the other journalists covering him to stay the weekend at a five-star resort, all expenses paid, and attend a free 'barbecue', all in a 'no-cameras/off-the-record' atmosphere. It's explicitly not a political or campaign event, there won't be any opportunity to interview the candidate 'on the record', or anything like that.
Do you think attending such an event would violate your journalistic integrity?
Obviously I'm referring to the McCain thing the other weekend:
http://margalis.blogspot.com/2008/03...ess-corps.html
Pretty well matches my views, and includes some excerpts from the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics:
And I'm curious - does anyone here on TFP see any justification for this behavior? Anyone willing to defend it? |
I have been reading and re-reading this thread trying to come up with a suitable answer...
I am a journalist. And I feel that if a presidential candidate offered a group of the media an all expenses paid week to some exotic resort of whatever, I will have no problem accepting. There's no interviews, no political content whatsoever. Nothing is on the record.
Now personally, i dont see the problem with that. Where the problem does come in, is when it affects your judgement, when it affects your ability to be the watchdog of the govenment (cos thats what journalists are), when it clouds your head with "ooh he gave me a free week at an exotic resort so let me give him a bit of good publicity in the paper" BULL SHIT!!!
Now, some people might see that as being two faced...and thats fine.
But as long as my two faced behavior does not comprimise my beliefs, morals, values and journalistic integrity to report in an honest and fair manner, to be the watchdog for the government, and not be biased, and not pass judgement, and just disregard everything i was taught on how to be a journalist, then free weekend with no strings attached, here I come!