The Ethical Barometer

It was a close call.Â A marketing flyer for the Post offered companies, in exchange for $25,000 perÂ “collegial evening”Â or $250,000 for all 11 (a real bargain), access to the publisher, advocates, administration officials, and dinner andÂ all at the home of the publisher. Then politico.com reported on the collegial evenings and Post staffers as well as journalism ethicists began flying twice backwards around their cages.Â TheÂ evening was canceled.Â Why, said the Post ombudsman, “This comes close to a public relations disaster.”
< >A public relations disaster is charitable.Â A newspaper was charging for access. What were they thinking? Well, these are tough times for the print world, and cash is still king.Â Seems the same financial pressures that get to the business folks and elected officials the reporters cover hit a bit too close to home.

The justifications are flowing. Politico.com itself had panels during the election season that were sponsored by Yahoo. The Wall Street Journal had a conference for a paying audience. The New York Times said it considered such sponsored sessions but, “only on conditions that would avoid any real or apparent conflicts of interest.” Dear journalists, one cannot avoid a conflict of interest in the middle of a meeting that is itself a conflict of interest. Selling access is selling access.

The California Supreme Court was not working with Mother Teresa, Father Flanagan, and Florence Nightengale.Â And the activities that preceded the accident were not the stuff of a Mayberry social.Â Still, the decision does give us pause.Â Lisa Torti pulled Alexandra Van Horn fromÂ the carÂ in which Van Horn was ridingÂ at the timeÂ the car’s driver, one Anthony Glen Watson,Â struck a curb and then a light pole whilst going 45 mph.Â Watson struck said curb and light pole after having imbibed at a local bar from 10:00 PM until 1:30 AM.Â Â Torti, who had smoked and inhaled marijuana with Van Horn earlier in the eveningÂ and also imbibed at the bar,Â testified thatÂ the crashed car was smoking (?) and that she felt she should save Van Horn before flames ensued.Â Van Horn, who was paralyzed as a result of the accident (and, she claimed, Torti’s pulling her from the wreck)Â sued Torti and several other party animals riding along in the two vehicles for their negligence.Â Torti claimed immunity under California’s Good Samaritan statute, but the defense, under the state supreme court’s ruling, was not to be hers. Continue reading →

The Ethical Barometer

Ethics, Journalism, and Photos

“Yeah, it would be like finding a gray area. In motorsports, we work in the gray areas a lot. You’re trying to find where the holes are in the rule book.

74% of employees saw unethical conduct at work in 2008: New KPMG Survey

You might have crossed a few ethical lines if you are the Washington Post and are accepting payments from companies for access at dinners to the publisher’s house

You might have crossed a few ethical lines if you report the cost of a $70,000 trip as $2,500.

Speaking of debt and responsibility . . . Before we blame the schmucks with the bonuses, we should check our own loans.

Never was there a tale of more woe than the candidate for the bar with $400,000 in student loans

On Good Samaritans

Uh-oh, Oprah Duped Again!

“Operational excellence and ethical behavior are not a contradiction of terms.”

“Useful money”

If You Don’t Want To Disclose Something, You Probably Should

“This is not like a guy taking $500 for a zoning change. This is selling a U.S. Senate seat.”

Oh, my! Madoff!

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