Monday, November 16, 2015

The Globe's Simon Houpt about ethics in political journalism

The Globe and Mail's Simon Houpt has written an interesting piece on friendships between journalists and their sources. Excerpt:
"News people aren’t supposed to become friends with sources. We’re instructed to maintain distance, even as we lunch and gossip and booze with them – building blocks of relationships, frankly, from which so many of the best stories emerge. It’s a delicate dance, dangerous like a tango, and sometimes we slip up and our cordial relationships become friendships. The line separating them is like the oft-quoted distinction between erotica and pornography: We know it when we see it."
The whole story
(PS: TVO has an excellent Danish series on Sunday nights, Borgen, which  chronicles the life of a female prime minister. A small country, there are a lot of conflicts of interest, including media.  More here )

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