Fallout from MSNBC story on media workers' political donations: MoveOn donor axed

[BurtWorm]

Nice job MSNBC. Good work there. :eyes:



http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/conversation/archive.asp?postID=15653


Ethics columnist derailed

Posted by Steven A. Smith | 21 Jun 2:13 PM

Bill Dedman, investigative reporter for MSNBC, is making big waves in the news industry today with an online report that more than 140 journalists – at the least – have contributed to political campaigns or organizations in recent years, often in violation of their news organization’s ethics policies and certainly in violation of commonly accepted journalistic standards.
...


After months of discussion, we were prepared to start this Saturday publishing Randy Cohen’s “The Ethicist” column from The New York Times. But, jeepers, turns out Cohen gave money to MoveOn.org in 2004.

In Dedman’s story, this is how Cohen explains his actions: “…The former comedy writer gave $585 to MoveOn.org in 2004 when it was organizing get-out-the-vote efforts to defeat Bush. Cohen said he understands the (New York) Times policy (against such donations) and won't make donations again, but he had thought of MoveOn.org as no more out of bounds than the Boy Scouts. "We admire those colleagues who participate in their communities — help out at the local school, work with Little League, donate to charity," Cohen said in an e-mail. "But no such activity is or can be non-ideological. Few papers would object to a journalist donating to the Boy Scouts or joining the Catholic Church. But the former has an official policy of discriminating against gay children; the latter has views on reproductive rights far more restrictive than those of most Americans. Should reporters be forbidden to support those groups? I’d say not."

Features Editor Ken Paulman, who moved our popular Wheel Life column to the Sunday Travel section in part to make room for Cohen, spoke for the newsroom this morning when he said it would by hypocritical of us to run an ethics column by a journalist who is in violation of our own ethics policy. Had he been a Spokesman-Review staff member, he would have faced suspension, at least, for his misstep.

So, we’re dropping the column. We’ll look elsewhere for a publishable ethicist.

What do you think? Are we making too much of this? Should journalists be allowed to contribute to political organizations or campaigns? Should we overlook Cohen’s actions?

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[SteelPenguin]

1. Yes they should

They need to maintain a certain level of detachment and transparency, but if they're citizens of this country they should be allowed to donate to whatever candidate or organization they like, and vote for whatever candidate they wish.

What a person does with their money should have no bearing on their job.

As an employer myself, I don't care what my employee's do with the money they earn, as long as it's not damaging to their health or interfereing with their work.

[terisan]

2. Do the owners of the Times contribute? nt

[TreasonousBastard]

3. What kind of bullshit is this? Have these papers ever

checked the donation lists for Anne Landers, or any other syndicated cartoonists, pundits or advice-givers? How about restaurant reviewers, travel freelancers, or the gardening column?

This guy gave a few hundred bucks to MoveOn three years ago, admitted his questionable judgment, and now they're making a big deal of this?