When is a Private Life Private?

While it doesn't help the case of the "liberal press," I would, for one, like to come out swinging on behalf of Tim Mahoney of St. Paul, Minnesota. As reported in the City Pages, Mahoney recently learned what separates those who work in journalism from those in other fields: the right to his own opinion.

A part-time copy editor (note: not reporter) at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Mahoney went with the parish of his Catholic church to a peace rally (read: anti-Iraq) in Washington, D.C. As a result an apparent ethics violation, the paper suspended Mahoney for three unpaid days, he is no longer allowed to edit Iraq-related stories.

Even though two reporters were similarly reprimanded for attending a "Vote for Change" concert-- presumably not to write a story-- Mahoney was truly shocked to be in trouble.

So it comes down to the question: reporter first, citizen second? Or the other way around? When is it so important that you override your fear of bias and do what feels right?

Mahoney is a veteran and a catholic, and has strong sentiments about our current war. He works as a copy editor at the City Pages only part time, and they learned of his attendance at the rally only because they called his home while he was there.

My first reaction was to think Mr. Mahoney's punishment was a bit harsh. He has rights as a citizen, no matter what he does for a living! He may vote, and he may hold opinions. I have to say though, it's Mahoney's own comments that swayed me. He said: ""There's a lot of bias in all newsrooms." As if that's an excuse. That makes it ok.

Newsrooms need to protect themselves, just like any other company or group. In order to ensure the integrity of their journalists, they need to make sure that they're trying to be unbiased. Clearly Mahoney had lost sight of that.

It is his right as a citizen to attend any march he pleases, be it peaceful or hooded. He is payed by the City Pages, however, and they must protect their own interests of journalistic integrity. While he is working for them, it behooves him to behave in a way that meets the professional standards of a journalist. This means not donating to causes, marching in rallies, peace or otherwise, or making public claims about how "ok" bias is.

The City Pages were not out of line. Mahoney was.

willemmarx @ October 27, 2005 - 6:19pm

So are political beliefs allowed to be held by journalists, so long as they are not in any way acted upon? What about religious beliefs, given that Mahoney attended the peace rally as part of a group from his local Catholic Church?

I'm not sure he was out of order for attending a rally, after all some people act on their beliefs. I genuinely fail to see the difference between thinking anti-war sentiments in one's own head and attending an anti-war event, unless it was concerns about their public image - an economic consideration for a newspaper perhaps - which lead to the St. Paul Pioneer Press' reprimanding of the part-time copy editor.

Recent comments

Navigation

Syndicate

Syndicate content