A recent conversation got me thinking about conflicts of interest. Our courts reporter, Jessica Prokop, asked if she could serve as the secretary of her Vancouver neighborhood association.
If we sold sewer pipes or built pizza ovens, this would be an odd question to ask your boss. But we ask our journalists to avoid entanglements that could result in conflicts of interest, either real or perceived.
Through all of the changes I’ve seen in newspapers, this has been bedrock.
To answer Jessica’s question, I dug out a copy of The Columbian’s ethics policy, which was written by my predecessor, the late Tom Koenninger, back in 2000. I was on the staff then and seem to remember that it was drafted when an unsolicited gift of Jerry Garcia neckties arrived in the newsroom, and several of the reporters kept them.
Back then, people often sent free stuff to newspapers hoping we would write about it. But accepting gifts has been a no-no since I’ve been around. Sure, it broke my heart to return the bottles of wine an enthusiastic local vineyard owner sent us not once, but twice. But you can see why we can’t accept gifts: Suppose the wine was fantastic? Even worse, suppose we told the readers that it was fantastic? What about the other winery owners out there who have delicious wine but weren’t mentioned? It just wouldn’t be fair.
