Your current poll asks, “Should journalists be allowed to give political donations and participate in civic affairs?” And the choices are “Yes,” “No” and “Rules should be same for reporters & media owners.”
Would the issue were that simple; alas, there’s plenty of complexity to it. First, you have to define “journalists.” Does the term embrace only “hard” news reporters, or does it also include the likes of executive- level editors, assignment editors, copy editors, editorial-page
editors, science writers, sports writers, entertainment writers and critics…? The list goes on.
After the Los Angeles Times endorsed Richard Nixon in 1972, a group of writers and editors co-signed a letter-to-the-editor stating the Times was “not a monolithic organization” and that they planned to vote for Nixon’s Democratic opponent, George McGovern. Notably,
all of the signators were from the arts and entertainment side.
Should the Chronicle have fired Henry Norr for participating in an anti-war rally, where he was arrested? Even aside from the paper’s questionable handling of the matter from a procedural aspect, the
ethical issue isn’t simple. True, Norr wasn’t covering the U.S.-led military operations in Iraq or the surrounding politics; he wrote about consumer-oriented technology. On the other hand, his actions limited the ability of the paper’s editors to give him assignments where they thought he could be most effective. Suppose, for instance, that they wanted to shift him to the news side to cover the war. They could no longer do so without sacrificing the paper’s credibility.
Or could they? Stanford journalism Prof. Ted Glasser scoffs at the idea of the “objective” journalist. People have opinions, Glasser argues, and it’s actually more honest for journalists to reveal their personal views than to keep silent about them.
Personally, I’ve decided to keep out of candidates’ campaigns. I did some volunteer work in a local campaign a few years ago. Looking back on it, I think I was wrong in doing so, since the office in question has some jurisdiction over San Francisco’s port and airport
administrations, which I cover from time to time.
Then there’s the question of issue campaigns. As I see it, if it’s an issue in which readers of any of my client publications have a stake, I’ll stay out of the fray. But there are a couple of issues on which I’ve long been active and outspoken — namely, freedom of information
and the First Amendment — and I think any journalists who disinvolve themselves from those areas are making a huge mistake.
Richard Knee
Freelance journalist
San Francisco
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