For those people who already believed we weren't careful enough as journalists, this gives them more reason to believe that. |
In journalism, anything that we do as journalists that confuses the public about our ability to be independent in our reporting is obviously harmful to journalism. |
In order to grant such a shield, you have to determine who is a journalist, and there is no satisfactory answer to that question. |
It's never been an easy answer. And it now seems like the answer is changing more rapidly. |
The Society of Professional Journalists in their code of ethics says that journalists should avoid conflicts of interest real or perceived. Clearly it would be a conflict of interest for anyone acting in a journalism capacity to simultaneously be serving as a public servant. |
There's no qualification for how you know what you know. |
Unless there's overwhelming reason to withhold the information, the public's need to know should come first. |
What's new is that entire newsrooms that once were one thing are totally different. The conversion of the traditional newsroom to the VJ newsroom is different. |
When the governor himself seems to confirm the information, there are not many among us who wouldn't go with it. |