Ethics in journalism-Part I

I have discussed on here the failure of the Suburban Journals and the Post-Dispatch (both are owned by Lee Enterprises) to cover stories in St. Charles County which were negative to their major advertisers. In fact, both papers have done stories highly critical of those who have dared to speak out against the control the builders/developers (major advertisers in the papers) have over politics in St. Charles. In the opinion of many, this slanted coverage is a direct result of the money spent on advertising and this has been going on for years. However, in this post I want to discuss another potential form of bias relating to an editor seeking a job from a municipal government they are responsible for covering.

Brad Mudd was the managing editor of the St. Charles Journals (including the O'Fallon Journal)back in 2004. This was a time when allegations of corruption involving builders/developers and city officials in O'Fallon were widespread. Many of the allegations were later found to be true in a state audit and through documents obtained by citizens. However, the O'Fallon Journal and the Post failed to report on these issues for the most part. Some of the most damning evidence was obtained from a request to O'Fallon for emails. The city attempted to illegally delete the emails but someone failed to delete the deleted emails file before the CDs were given to a citizen. When the city learned of its mistake it sent out the police chief in an attempt to get the CDs back and later had its attorney send threatening letters. The CDs were not returned and copies were later distributed to other citizens and the Journal and Post.

One of the emails read as follows:

• Cheryl, I had heard from a little birdie that Dave Dorr resigned as the PR director for the city. I have tried to contact him to wish him well, but have not heard back.
  
  The main reason I'm sending you this message is to see if the city has anyone in mind for the position. The position is not listed on the city's Web site under employment opportunities. I am interested in applying for the position if it is open. Any advice on timing and how I should apply for the job would be much appreciated. As you can probably imagine, I would not like it to be widely known that I have an interest in working for the city.
  
  Thank you for any information you can give me.
  
  Brad

Cheryl refers to former O'Fallon alderman Cheryl Hibbeler and the sender is Brad Mudd of the Journal. The Society of Professional Journalists has a code of ethics which is considered the standard to which journalists are held. Under the heading Act Independently the code of ethics state:

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.

Mr. Mudd had every right to seek other employment, however, once he took a job as a journalist he presumably agreed to follow the code of ethics for journalists. There can be no doubt that a person seeking employment from O'Fallon is not likely to report unfavorable information on the city and Mudd's actions violated the code of ethics in several respects. In addition, the code of ethics requires that unavoidable conflicts be disclosed, however, this was not an unavoidable conflict but was one that Mr. Mudd chose. The Journal was made aware of this conflict but has never disclosed this information to its readers.

I would be interested in hearing from others regarding what they believe the Journal should have done and whether the paper still has an obligation to report the conflict to its readers.