Responses
Timothy Guy, 2/25/2006, 8:31:58 PM
This is a very important topic that every paper should have spelled out from the start.
It is a HUGE conflict of interest if those people who are members of the clubs/organizations write about them. It will open up a huge can of worms if this happens.
I don't think the EIC should be a member of any other college club/organization, the buck stops with the EIC and they should make all of the decisions and they should not be biased in any way. I think it should even go as far as the News/Features editor as well. You can't stop writers from being part of clubs, but you can control what assignments they are given. If someone is a member of say the Karate Club, then they should not be writing about it.
You should really get a policy in place before any huge problems happen.
Timothy Guy
Viewpoints
Riverside City College
Eliot, 2/26/2006, 10:59:06 PM
Yeah, we're a pretty small school, so it does come up. We of course allow no one to write about their own clubs/events, though you'd be surprised how often people want to do that. But on occasion, a source for a story needs to be a staff person, so we've been requiring a disclosure (e.g. John Doe, who is also an editor at The Mac Weekly, said...)
Eliot Brown
Editor, The Mac Weekly
Macalester College
Rob V., 2/27/2006, 10:05:19 AM
This is a tough one, and I'd say you should gauge it based on the atmosphere of your campus and your publication. I'm currently at a very small school with a limited staff, and conflict of interest pops up on occassion with story ideas. I <i>strongly</i> encourage them to pass off stories that they know they shouldn't write about. But, and anyone from a similar situation will admit, sometimes we just don't have other options.
That being said, <i>perceived</i> conflict of interest is an undeniable problem. Regardless of how objectively something is written, readers will be suspicious if, say, the Student Government President was writing a piece on Student Government. Avoid it like crazy, regardless of how small your school or staff is.
Another point here is involvement. Should we automatically exclude Studtent Government executives from being editors, or even staff members? My undergraduate paper was very clear on this: it's either SGA or the paper. A well-known incident during my time there confirmed it. But, where do you draw the line? A student gov't rep. may want to be a photographer, without holding any executive or editorial titles. What are people's thoughts here?
Sorry for the novel.
Rob Velella
Adviser, Red & Black newspaper
Washington & Jefferson College
Chris Lowrance, 2/27/2006, 1:53:45 PM
The ACP's model code of ethics describes this pretty well. Basically, no writer should cover a group they belong to, and no editor should hold a position in SGA, or a leadership position in any partisan group.
The important thing is to establish that perceived conflicts of interest are to be avoided, and to spell out who gets to make that call and what they can do about it. In our case, a perceived conflict of interest would be brought up to the editorial board, who would then discuss and vote on the matter.
Chris Lowrance
Executive Editor
www.carolinianonline.com
Andy, 3/17/2006, 9:52:02 PM
Our newspaper has it written in the bylaws that members of the SGA cannot be paid members of the newspaper. It is also on the application form: a y/n checkbox saying, "Are you a member of the Student Government Association?"
Depending on the setup, the editor should be able to make that policy. You might want to check it out, though.
-Andy Welfle
The Communicator
IPFW
