This “JourNOlist” thing gets worse and worse as time progresses. Here is a portion of an open letter from Brent Bozell to the Washington Post:
The JournoList scandal is getting worse every day and The Washington Post is at the center of it. Blogger Ezra Klein ran the operation and at least three other staffers were members. (Blogger Greg Sargent claims he wasn’t a member after he joined the Post.) In addition, at least one member of Slate and two from Newsweek, also owned by Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive, were members.
The almost constant revelations of political activism and journalistic conspiracy raise an enormous number of questions about Post policies, professionalism and ethics. As a conservative, and therefore a member of the movement JournoListers sought to demonize, I feel Post readers are owed full disclosure.
Any understanding of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics makes clear this list and the Post’s involvement violate a number of ethical guidelines. In fact, much of the code seems to have been ignored. Here are just a few examples from the code.
Journalists should:
- “Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting,”
- “Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection,”
- “Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived,”
- “Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests [emphasis added] and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.”