Avoiding Conflicts of Interest as a Student Journalist

Allison Gens
ag564012@ohio.edu

image: blogs.kqed.org

As student journalists, it is important to start making ethical decisions early so future problems can be avoided.

Conflict of interest is an ethical dilemma that many professional journalists have faced, but little attention is given to student journalists.

RTDNA provides professionals with guidelines for avoiding conflict of interest that can also be applied for student journalists.

The guidelines provide a series of questions in which RTDNA encourages journalists to answer when covering stories that may have conflicts of interest.

Here are just a few:

Will the private actions of a journalist with a news source or newsmaker give the appearance of an unprofessional connection?

This question is asking about the personal friendships and romances that develop between journalists and their sources, especially if the coverage is on-going.

What this means to a student journalist is it is best to being practicing finding sources who are not friends. It is also best to avoid writing stories on clubs or activities the journalist is a part of.

For example, in the North Carolina State University Student Code of Ethics, it states, “A staff member should not cover an event organized or supported by a club, organization or team in which he or she is a member. Such staff members may, however, consult with the other staff members assigned to the story."

Is it ever acceptable to accept gifts from a source on a story?

The question to accept gifts plagues not only journalists, but also to PR firms deciding who to promote and even to business managers trying to make a deal.

For the student journalist, it is often best that the student media organization sets a policy about when to accept gifts and if there should be a value placed on them.

The New YorkUniversity Handbook for Student Journalists outlines this in their ethics code:

“Journalists generally should not accept any gifts from sources or from the subjects of their stories. Sometimes sources will send tokens of their appreciation after the fact, which is to say after publication. Every media outlet has its own policy on accepting such gifts. At the Department of Journalism, students will be asked to return all such tokens, if possible, if worth more than $25. If abroad in cultures where refusing hospitality could be interpreted as rudeness, it may be permissible to accept food, private lodging and/or small tokens of affection or gratitude. Similarly, in some cultures (Japan, for example) it is appropriate for a reporter to present a small gift to a source before the interview starts, especially if the interview is being conducted in the source's home. As always, use common sense.”

In my personal experience, at my internship over the summer, the reporters could not accept gifts valued over $25. And in many instances, this policy came into effect as sources offered us gifts from baseball game tickets to bottles of specialty wine. I watched different scenarios where the reporters questioned whether to accept the gifts.

Will you accept free admission to parks and events you are covering, even when the general public must pay for the same access?

According to the RTDNA website, “Some ethicists insist journalists covering events requiring a ticket should pay the same fee ticket buyers do, while others insist free access is part of the coverage process. Managers should discuss what sorts of events merit free access and if any do not.”

In student media, this is, again, up to the media organizations. It is common to see ethics codes state that a student journalist can accept free tickets to an event they are covering, only if those tickets are not for personal use.

Does the station (or newsroom) have a policy on if and how employees can participate in political campaigns?

This question is important to consider for any student journalist running for a leadership office at the university. This can range from student government to university committees, to even officers of influential clubs.

In the ethics code for N. C. State University, it states, “As candidates for any elected or appointed office in Student Government or any other campus- wide elected office — An employee must suspend his or her work with Student Media during the campaign. If the employee is elected into office, his or her work with the publication must be suspended.”

It would be a conflict of interest for the student journalist because his/her platform may influence the other students, even if he/she is not writing about the campaign.

In Conclusion...

As a student journalist, it may seem like there are many restrictions when trying to be ethical and objective. With classes, homework and other clubs, it may even seem easier to interview friends or accept free tickets and gifts, but in the end, it is about becoming a reputable journalist who is prepared for the future.

image: ecu.edu.au