on 3/4/07 11:29 AM, William Pietri at william@scissor.com wrote:
Marc Riddell wrote:
Huh!?!
How would giving away the money you are paid for doing work make that work any more credible? What about the credibility and integrity of the person doing that work? Ever hear of trust!?!
As for "good editors losing their neutrality when money is involved" - to make this statement work you need to remove the word "good".
Absolutely. That's why journalists regularly take payments from people they are covering in the news. A "good" journalist would have no problem writing a fair article, no matter who's giving them money. We trust them, so there's no problem.
Wait, no. It's just the opposite. That's called a conflict of interest. And behavior like that is strictly forbidden by any journalistic code of ethics I've ever seen. E.g.:
Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know.
Journalists should:
- Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
- Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise
integrity or damage credibility.
- Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment,
and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.
- Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
- Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power
accountable.
- Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests
and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.
- Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money;
avoid bidding for news.
(from the "Act Independently" section of http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp)
We ignore their historically evolved and time-tested solution at our great peril.
William
We seem to have strayed from Jaap Vermeulen's original inquiry. I still support his ability to receive compensation for his editing. As always, I am going to assume good faith.
Marc Riddell