When a reporter gives money to a politician, he climbs into the politician’s bed no less effectively than if he accepts money from one. It’s a serious breach of journalistic integrity. Whether he gives money or accepts it, he then has a vested personal interest in events he writes about and can no longer be trusted to report them with unimpeachable honesty. By extension, neither can his employer.
That is why he should be fired as quickly and unapologetically as if he had plagiarized, fabricated sources or pilfered office supplies. If he is disinterested in adhering to ethical standards that are absolutely essential to the preservation of a free press as well as his employer’s credibility, then run him off—whether his fan base objects or not. Let him eat Duck Soup.
— J.W. Mozingo
Asheville
Amen …. you hit the issue right on the head. I want journalists reporting news rather than political operatives making it