Should journalists be allowed to participate in protests and movements? What about other public radio employees? Conor Friedersdorf writes in the Atlantic that WNYC over reacted when they fired Cailin Curan for attending an OWS protest.
I find the comments interesting. Both feel Public Radio should not allow staff to publicly support causes.
The Core Values of Public Radio's listeners seems to suggest our listeners hold us to a higher standard.
Should public radio employees be allowed to express their views on issues that are being reported on by public radio? What about advocating for issues of public concern?
Should public radio employees be allowed to express their views on issues that are being reported on by public radio? What about advocating for issues of public concern?
In becoming a journalist, I found that the only way to maintain credibility with my readers, later listeners, was to avoid any appearance that I held an opinion on an issue. I've been accused of favoring sides in the years I reported the news; sometimes by both sides of a single issue. But overall my sources and readers agreed that my work was fair, even when critical. The only thing a journalist has going for himself or herself is his credibility. When a journalist turns up as a supporter of an event, it immediate creates suspicion regarding that journalist's ability to present a fair, unbiased account of any subject. That may not be fair, but it is the way it is.
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