Do you have thoughts on the notion that when a reporter is employed by a news organization, and that employment is quite likely a substantial factor in the reporter’s access to a source, the news organization has some entitlement to the information gleaned while on the payroll? It seems a bit problematic for the reporter to use the newsroom credential for access, but at the same time claim the information gathered is not for use in that role, “it’s for my book.”
This is a point, to be sure, but for reporters like Bob Woodward and Maggie Haberman the dynamic may run the other way. And if books are written on leaves people have been granted, those are— or surely should be— accompanied by understandings on these issues.
It is worth discussing the entire phenomenon of reporters writing books in the midst of an active newsroom career. There are important ethical considerations I never hear mentioned, including the extent to which they operate differently than reporters who are not imminently planning to write a book. It would be nice to see news organizations get together and decide whether this is a problem altogether.
The fact that Woodward was told that Trump knew that COVID was a real threat *and* that it was airborne and just... decided to sit on that for months... will never sit right with me.
Do you have thoughts on the notion that when a reporter is employed by a news organization, and that employment is quite likely a substantial factor in the reporter’s access to a source, the news organization has some entitlement to the information gleaned while on the payroll? It seems a bit problematic for the reporter to use the newsroom credential for access, but at the same time claim the information gathered is not for use in that role, “it’s for my book.”
This is a point, to be sure, but for reporters like Bob Woodward and Maggie Haberman the dynamic may run the other way. And if books are written on leaves people have been granted, those are— or surely should be— accompanied by understandings on these issues.
It is worth discussing the entire phenomenon of reporters writing books in the midst of an active newsroom career. There are important ethical considerations I never hear mentioned, including the extent to which they operate differently than reporters who are not imminently planning to write a book. It would be nice to see news organizations get together and decide whether this is a problem altogether.
The fact that Woodward was told that Trump knew that COVID was a real threat *and* that it was airborne and just... decided to sit on that for months... will never sit right with me.