Conflicts of Interest: Avoiding it is a Journalist's Best Interest

There is a common saying in the world, "money talks, BS walks." Well as journalist or PR person this is not true. If money ever enters a situation, conflict of interest immediately rises and there is a problem. In today's world self gain seems like an everyday thing. What can someone do to progress further in the workplace? For a journalist, how can a news story make them their company's hit journalist, or what client is going to gift the the best gifts or favors? A journalist must avoid conflict of interest at all costs.

A journalist's job is to report a situation unbiasedly, even if they don't agree with the story. A PR personnel is working for a client. Neither of these jobs should think about personal gain.

In order to avoid conflicts of interest, journalist must tell people what motivates them to do their job. One should be clear and assertive when telling the purpose or reporting the story. Much of the public thinks journalists are biased with stories or only tell part of the truth rather than the whole truth because they are money driven. 

As for PR, your job is to be transparent, trusting, and be respected for your client. PR personnel needs to build trust between the public and the client. In order to avoid conflict of interest, address any potential conflicts of interest ahead of time.

https://i-sight.com/resources/how-to-handle-an-employee-conflict-of-interest/

How should one avoid conflict of interest? Full discloser at all times. Often times if discloser is not done by PR personnel it is actually a crime that carries legal penalties and could cost someone to lose their job. Another way is to withdrawal one's self from the situation. If a conflict of interest does come about, PR personnel or a journalist must excuse themselves from the situation. For both journalists and PR personnel use the code of ethics. They are their to help guide you through situations. If questioning whether a situation is a conflict of interest use codes as a referral to help answer questions.

Perhaps a network and source that shows conflict of interest through the years is ESPN. Usually, media and stations are paid by advertisers. However, in ESPN's case their revenue come from the very thing they are reporting on. ESPN can determine the schedule and times and games that are being played. Whatever teams are playing the ESPN network is gaining while other teams who play at the same time, but not being shown by ESPN are losing. ESPN is facing an ethical dilemma. They need to not stream games over which league or organization can pay them the big bucks. ESPN's way of business could be considered conflict of interest.

No matter if you are a journalist or PR personnel conflict of interest is best to avoid. There is no excuse. Conflict of interest can ruin the public's trust with a journalist if he or she is only reporting on stories based on self gain and favors by the sources. From a PR standpoint, conflict of interest can lose the trust between a client and the public forever. The best interest for both is to avoid conflict of interest.