Paid Partisans, Biased Bloggers, and Their Place in the Newsroom

november 12, 2007  11:15 am
In examining the "challenge that news organizations face as they look for new ways to engage the public in political discourse while trying to remain fair and balanced in their own coverage," Poynter talks to ethics experts and news editors about how they deal with the political activities of new media contributors. While the editor of Cleveland's Plain Dealer thinks writers can contribute to or work on campaigns as long as they aren't being paid, National Public Radio's news blogger says establishing written guidelines with contributors -- whether they are paid or not -- is critical. "I think the issue here is transparency," he says, recommending that if a contributor has supported a particular campaign, that needs to be noted on the blog or column (s)he writes.