The Society of Professional Journalists's Ethics Committee said today that it is "dismayed" that Gannett's N.J. newspapers are publishing stories written by a New Jersey Devils employee, effectively allowing the professional hockey team to cover itself.
"The public expects journalists to be ethical — including fair and impartial — and holds us accountable when we fail," committee Chairman Andy Schotz said in a statement. "We hear constantly from people upset about eroding standards by news organizations."
Hollis Towns, executive editor of one of the papers, the Asbury Park Press, recently told The New York Times he was comfortable with the arrangement because the paper had disclosed the relationship with the team to readers. "I think journalists get hung up on certain lines of what's ethical more than the readers,'' the NYT quoted him saying.
SPJ disagreed, saying in its statement: "Economically squeezed journalists might seek more efficient ways to cover news, but ceding journalistic duties to newsmakers and giving space to what could be seen as glorified press releases is a poor choice. It cheapens journalism."
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
SPJ scolds N.J. papers over team-written stories; it says 'glorified press releases' cheapen journalism
3 comments:
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The response by Towns is typical for a Gannett manager. He acts like he doesn't understand the problem -- and unfortunately that may be true.
ReplyDeleteI've run into mid-level Gannett managers, who can't grasp why running a puff-piece ordered by the advertising department is wrong.
These folks are ignorant of the concepts taught in Journalism 101 or just don't care.
Hardly a day goes by without Towns trying to prove how knowledgeable he is about news topics and journalism issues. He can be a nice enough guy. He's just not cut out for the work.
ReplyDelete"I think Gannett managers get hung up on making money at all costs more so than average people, who actually realize there's more to life than cold, hard cash."
ReplyDeleteWhether or not Towns is a nice guy, his quote argues that you can't trust anything that's printed in his paper. If that's the way he does things I wouldn't read and I certainly wouldn't advertise in it because I have to assume that nobody's taking it seriously.