When the Professional Line Blurs with the Personal Line the Public Looses

Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com mentioned in his Tim Tebow column that two accredited media members asked Tebow for an autograph. One was a Cincinnati reporter.  One was a photographer. Tebow obliged with his signature, and then the Broncos P.R. staff promptly booted the two media members from the premises who were harshly criticized for being just one step from hitting the press box wearing a home team’s jersey and cheering through the entire game.

Cuban-American CNN Host Rick Sanchez was fired after making controversial remarks on a satellite radio show. Sanchez called Comedy Central host Jon Stewart a "bigot" for mocking him, and complained that Jews — like Stewart — don't face discrimination. He also suggested that CNN, and perhaps the media industry more broadly, is run by Jews and elitists who look down on Hispanics like himself. He didn't just make a single impolite statement, but spoke at length — for roughly 20 minutes — about Stewart and a media world he believes to be filled with "elite Northeast liberals" who consider Hispanic journalists "second tier." This wasn’t the first time in Sanchez's four years at CNN that his comments had led to controversy or mockery. He once called President Obama a "cotton-picking president," and had attributed unconfirmed quotes to Rush Limbaugh and misidentified the Galapagos Islands as Hawaii.

Juan Williams was fired by NPR after saying on Bill O'Reilly's show that he gets nervous when he sees people in "Muslim garb" on airplanes. Within 24 hours Williams signed a $2 million contract with FOX. Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes said, “He's an honest man whose freedom of speech is protected by Fox News on a daily basis.” Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and other conservative leaders rushed to Williams' defense calling for the federal government to stop providing funds to NPR. Erick Erickson, author of the "Red State" blog, called NPR's decision disgusting.  "All Juan Williams did is say both exactly how he feels and how many, many other Americans feel on this subject," Erickson wrote. “The man's body of work makes clear he is no bigot. But we sure can't offend [m]uslims can we?"

Not long ago you had to have a college degree to be a journalist, but now that anyone can publish anything —be it news, rumor or innuendo— on the Internet, the rules and the profession itself are changing. There was a time when journalism placed a high internal value on the rules of objective coverage and had a code of ethics to ensure it. Believe it or not, facts and sources had to be double and triple-checked before anything was published. Reporters and on-air personalities were aware of journalistic standards that prohibited them from injecting themselves into a story. They knew these standards and codes applied to everyone, in every circumstance.

The lack of professionalism in all cases mentioned is staggering, especially from a "mainstream media" that never holds back a chance to take shots at the blogosphere holding itself to a higher standard. However, it is not a matter of free speech; it is a matter of professional standards. Do you think Coca-Cola executives are free to divulge Coke’s secret formula under the First Amendment protection? Every company makes its own rules; every employee is free to leave a company when they don’t like the company’s mission, ethics or standards. NPR spokeswoman Dana Davis Rehm told the L.A. Times that Williams had been warned about the policy that their journalists should not participate in programs "that encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis." NPR said that William’s comments “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.” But Williams thought free speech trumped company policy and said, “Political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.” 

Political correctness doesn’t negate objectivity and reality is objective. A professional recognizes that they have to be circumspect about their own opinions on divisive issues. There are some news organizations that present only one side and only one agenda letting fairness and balance fly out the window. They have much lower journalistic ethics and standards; but as long as they make them known to their employees, and the employees are comfortable working in that environment there is no problem. On the other hand, there are some news organizations that understand the role of the reporter/host is to present the story or the issue, not to make it. They feed objectivity to the public and let them make their own mind by presenting all sides of an issue; that’s what fair and balance is all about. Thank goodness there are some news organizations that still uphold their journalistic standards and ethics refusing to lower the bar!