What you need to know about conflicts of interest

Rebecca Laughlin
rl257914@ohio.edu

When I was a freshman in college, I took a class called Introduction to Public Relations. During this class, we looked at a case study in which a public relations professional lost his job due to a conflict of interest. At the time, I had no idea what a conflict of interest was, but based on the circumstances I assumed that it must be serious.

Once I found out what a conflict of interest was, I was shocked that a person could be fired because of it. I didn't understand why it was so bad to write a news story about my brother's company or to let an interviewee to buy me a steak dinner.

If you're confused, let me answer some of the questions that I asked when this concept was new to me.

Wait, what is a conflict of interest?

A conflict of interest is any situation in which a journalist (or other professional) is unable to remain unbiased due to conflicting loyalties. For example, if a journalist reports on the presidential debates during the 2020 election and at the same time donates toward the incumbent president's campaign, this would be a conflict of interest. In that situation, the journalist is unable to report on the presidential debates because he or she is clearly biased toward one candidate.

If a public relations professional that worked on the Coca-Cola brand were to accept a gift of any kind from a PepsiCo representative, it would be a conflict of interest. If the same professional were to own stock in PepsiCo while representing its competitor, this would be a conflict of interest as well.

For more examples of conflicts of interest in journalism, check out this article published by the New York Times.


So why are conflicts of interest such a big deal?

Image via memecenter.com

Ethics is important in the media industry, especially in the climate of our current society. Journalists and "The Media" are commonly viewed as an entire industry intended to control and deceive the public.

However, the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Public Relations Society of America, the Society of Professional Journalists and several other organizations have strict guidelines and codes of ethics that media professionals are expected to follow. These codes of ethics and guidelines vary between organizations, but six out of seven that I read mentioned something about avoiding conflicts of interest. Obviously, it's an important issue.

The purpose of journalists and public relations professionals is to inform the public of current issues and events. If some media professionals are biased, the public has no way of knowing whose voice they can trust. Therefore it is important for all professionals in the media industry to avoid situations that would hurt their credibility, such as conflicts of interest.

How do I avoid conflicts of interest?

It can be difficult to identify conflicts of interest, especially when you are within the situation. Thankfully, there are resources that can help you avoid these situations. The Radio Television Digital News Organization has published a list of guidelines to help journalists avoid conflicts of interest.

If you ever find yourself in a situation that could be a conflict of interest, remember that it never hurts to err on the side of caution.