![]() ![]() ![]() The point of “the Rosenthal Rule” is not to penalize any one political viewpoint rather, the cub reporter who wanted to march in a protest has such a strong personal connection to that issue that it made him unsuited to write neutral, fact-based stories on that issue.Ī conflict of interest is still an ethical problem even if nobody misbehaves and nobody means any harm. The late Abe Rosenthal, former editor of the New York Times, “once told a reporter who demanded to exercise his rights by marching in a street demonstration he was assigned to cover: ‘OK, the rule is, you can an elephant if you want to, but if you do you can’t cover the circus.’ ” (via Wesley Pruden). They can vote. Sometimes journalists are called upon to present their opinions in an editorial or personal column.īut most of the rank-and-file journalists who are doing their routine jobs are charged with reporting who said or did what, and providing facts that help the public understand the significance of the news. Of course reporters can join political parties. Thus, a lawyer who has defended a client in the past cannot be hired to prosecute that same client a surgeon should not operate on a family member, and a reporter should not cover any news story in which he or she has a personal stake.
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