In journalism school one of the very first things you learn is to not report on things you have a connection with. You don’t write about your friends, relatives or loved ones (there are special exceptions here), companies you work for or clubs you participate in etc. This includes companies your spouse is involved in. And of course this makes sense. Who could possibly be objective with something they have a financial or emotional stake in?
When I heard last week the wife of ESPN’s David Newton got the account to do the marketing, licensing and PR for Dale Earnhardt Inc’s legacy business (his wife Debby Robinson runs Victory Management Group) I thought that would be the end of David’s reporting on DEI. I was wrong.
Just a few days later I was horrified to see him writing about DEI. He didn’t make one single mention of his blatant connection to the company. Instead he went on to write a 1,300 word puff piece about DEI.
My stomach was churning.
I don’t know a single editor that would have given him the OK to run with this story. In very rare circumstances it is acceptable to write or report on something you have a connection with (this shouldn’t have been one of those). If that occurs you need to disclose that connection in the story so there is complete transparency with the reader. NBC and MSNBC do this whenever they report on anything to do with parent company General Electric.
Ultimately the preferable thing to do is to remove yourself from covering anything related to that person, company or group. Andrea Mitchell, of NBC News, who is married to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan never reported on her husband or the Federal Reserve Bank. It would have been inappropriate given her relationship.
These very simple, common sense things are taught in school and in any newsroom you’ll ever work in. In fact many editors will set up guidelines early on with reporters.
At the end of the day, as a journalist you have one thing: your integrity. When that’s gone people will no longer trust you and your ability to report effectively will be severely diminished.
I can’t say I have always agreed with David Newton. But I thought a little more of him than this. He of all people knows better. With 25+ years of journalism experience he lost his amateur status a long time ago.
To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.
