Everyday Ethics

By Bob Steele
Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values

I get riled up when I hear veteran journalists moan and groan about the ethics of the less-experienced folks in newsrooms. Especially when the gray beards are far from pure themselves.

You know what I’m talking about: When the long-in-the-tooth crowd starts grousing about how the younger journalists just don't get it on ethics. Sometimes it's about plagiarism. Sometimes it's about accuracy. Sometimes it's about conflicts of interest.

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I get riled because many of the ethics explosions in recent years were triggered by the actions of journalists who have been practicing for decades. I have a file cabinet full of ethics case studies that focus on reporters, photojournalists, editors, producers and news directors who are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning. I'll spare you the litany of names of the veterans who plagiarized, screwed up stories or had major conflicts of interest. This isn't about looking in our rear-view mirror to see those who stumbled in years past.


Rather, my current frustration about veterans versus rookies has to do with what just happened in Minneapolis. It's another example of a guy who has been in the newsroom a long time and who is seemingly blind to ethical standards. Veteran Star Tribune sports columnist Sid Hartman was shilling for a local company. He appeared in a TV commercial for Sun Country Airlines. He did this without consulting any of the editors at the Strib.

And, according to Star Tribune Reader's Representative Kate Parry, Hartman isn't exactly penitent about his actions. Perry's column outlines the case and includes comments from the paper's managing editor about why conflict of interest is a problem.

Parry also quotes Hartman as saying he "didn't do anything wrong," although he admits he should have talked to his editors before doing the commercial for which he was compensated "in the form of free tickets," according to Parry, "which he said he plans to donate to a charity he would not disclose for publication."

Perhaps worst of all, Hartman appears to thumb his nose at the paper on this matter. Parry quotes Hartman as saying, "I'll make you a bet you get 100 calls in my favor for every one you get in your favor."

Jeez.

Not only do you have a veteran journalist violating a clear conflict of interest guideline at his newspaper. This old-timer says the paper was wrong, not him.

Sadly, it's not hard for me to imagine the Sid Hartmans of the journalism world decrying the ethics of the next generation of journalists.

There's something really wrong with this picture.