Jerz > Writing > Journalism
You can [get intimate with] an elephant if you want to, but if you do you can’t cover the circus. — The (Abe) Rosenthal Rule
A conflict of interest arises when someone who is expected to act impartially has a personal stake in an issue (emotional, financial, etc.). In every case, a conflict of interest is a real problem — even if nobody misbehaves.
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.
Of course reporters can join political parties. They can vote. Sometimes journalists are called upon to present their opinions in an editorial or personal column.
But 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.
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 [make love to] an elephant if you want to, but if you do you can’t cover the circus.’ ” (via Wesley Pruden).
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.
A conflict of interest is still an ethical problem even if nobody misbehaves and nobody means any harm.
If Mr. Brady agrees to judge a baking contest, and his housekeeper Alice enters the contest, both Mr. Brady’s reputation as an impartial judge and Alice’s reputation as a cook are at risk. Mr. Brady has a conflict of interest. Even if it turns out that Alice really does bake the best pie, and Mr. Brady honestly awards her the first prize, it may still look like the only reason she won is that she works for the judge. (If her pie really is the best, some other fair pie-taster would also have picked it. If Mr. Brady is really honest, he would not want to put Alice in the position of her rivals complaining that she only got the prize because her employer was also the judge.)
Likewise, if the mayor’s daughter is a reporter who uncovers a scandal on the city council, readers will expect her to try to make the mayor look good. Even if the reporter is completely thorough, readers will filter her words through their understanding of the reporter’s obligations to her father, and thus the reporter’s credibility may suffer.
In the summer of 2007, journalist Mirthala Salinas broadcast a report that Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villariagoa had separated from his wife. The problem? Salinas was the other woman. While it is possible that she just showed up for work one day and someone just handed her the story to read, her direct, personal connection with the story – or even the appearance of a conflict of interest — can damage the credibility of the whole news organization.
If your spouse works for ConglomCo Pharmaceuticals, and someone calls you up with a tip that ConglomCo is dumping illegal chemicals in the water reservoir, you should transfer the call to your editor. Even if the next thing the caller says is that aliens whispered the tip to him in a dream, if you hang up on him, it might look like you are protecting your spouse’s job.
Often the possibility of a conflict of interest is less obvious, and the answer is “it depends.”
For a university news organization, student-athletes are welcome to write for any section in the paper, including sports; however, they cannot cover their own teams.
Should someone whose roommate is a student government officer be assigned to cover a student government meeting? Should a non-catholic (who may have never attended a Catholic mass before) be assigned to cover the opening liturgy at a Catholic school? On the other hand, would a cradle Catholic be disinclined to cover the reaction of the population that is not Catholic?
As you can see, the question of conflict of interest is complex.
Should a reporter with small children in daycare be assigned to a story about a new scientific study on the effects of daycare on child development? Should an atheist cover a story that involves religion? Should pack-a-day smokers cover health issues? Should pacifists cover wars?
As with the exaggerated quote about elephants, the point is not to control the reporter’s off-the-job actions or personal beliefs; rather, the point is to ensure that the editor knows of any potential conflict of interest, in advance, so that a story can be reassigned or carefully vetted for signs of bias.
The antagonistic relationship between former president Donald Trump and the entire profession of journalism make this issue worth serious, ongoing consideration.
2009 — originally posted in a glossary for a journalism class.
Jan 2017 — updated and posted here
02 May 2022 — minor updates
This helped me understand why you can only report on certain things depending on what you believe in. But the phrase “conflict of interest” makes it seem more like you’re a sleazy journalist who is working for both sides of a story.
I know what bias is, and I know how to pick out bias when reading news sources/opinion pieces. However, in my own writing, I’ve been trying to be more aware fo the subconscious spin I may put on ideas and facts. Being aware of our own personal conflicts of interest, however complex they are, gives us guidelines to what we can/should/want to cover in the news.
The phrase “Conflict of interest” has popped in my life before, but I never really thought of the meaning behind it. Being a journalist can be hard when you’re a conflict of interest in something. I never really noticed how being a conflict of interest could affect you as a journalist or even in a work environment. Although I understand what people say about how it could be hard to report on something you are a conflict of interest in, but maybe it can also help? Maybe the information you have about the story can give more detail and help the situation. But that’s when you as the conflict of interest have to decide where you want to stand in the situation and if doing so will hurt your reputation and even the other person’s reputation.
The idea of being impartial is one that is nearly impossible to achieve. Although I am not connected to any sports on campus does not mean that I do not have a bias for sports. People are capable of forming opinions on anything based on practically nothing. So although it is important to extract yourself from stories that may tug a bit too hard at the heartstrings, the real challenge is being able to put an unconscious bias to bed.
I’ve heard the term “conflict of interest” before and understood the meaning of it, but I’ve never thought about its effect on journalism and the credibility of a news outlet. I can now see why it would be a universal rule of journalism and how even if the reporter shows no bias and it can still be interpreted that way. Some cases where a journalist is directly associated with a news story, it is obvious as to why they wouldn’t be able to report on it, but I liked how Dr. Jerz brought up other conflicting stories like a if an atheist should do a report about religion.
I now can see how it can be a conflict to cover a story that I have a conflict of interest with. As a journalist, it’s my job to write about the truth in a neutral way. If I’m somehow connected to the stories I write about, it could be difficult for me to not be biased. I also can see how writing a story that I have a connection to can hurt my reputation as well as the reputation of someone I have a connection with. As a journalist I want to be credible so it is vital to make sure that I write stories about topics that I’m not involved with in any way.
While being an editor of the Setonian student magazine at Seton Hill, I have frequently came across students who wanted to write for their own club or athletics team. Whenever this issue first occurred, I never disciplined the student for not knowing about conflict of interest. Instead, I simply took the opportunity to teach them about one of the many rules of journalism. I simply explained the purpose for avoiding conflict of interest was so that their article would not be biased.