MMMM # 53 - Conflicts? What conflicts?

Lots of folks seem to go crazy over the conflicts of interest in an MSNBC "host" also working as a VP for a Public Relations Company. I'd say they're rearranging the deck chairs. The old conflict of interest "rules" no longer seem to mean much, if they ever did. Anchors work as PR people, Reporters take gifts from people they cover, Cable "News" Channel hosts take on crusades. No wonder people don't trust what they hear! And it's not just in news where conflicts exist and are generally ignored. Read the comments of Frank Deford about ESPN last week on NPR's Morning Edition:

"Just suppose that CNN regularly had cutesy commercials for CNN starring Nancy Pelosi, John McCain and Rahm Emanuel. Well, that's the equivalent of what ESPN regularly does with top sports personalities. The practice is, simply, a journalistic disgrace, and, because ESPN is so powerful, it diminishes the integrity of all sports journalism."

And speaking of sports and ethics, there was the story late last month of the Mets General Manager alleging a conflict of interest by a reporter who, he charged, was trying to get a development job with the Mets at the same time as he covered the team. To put that in a non-sports context, it would be the same as a reporter covering a Governor at the same time he or she was negotiating a job in the Governor's Press Office. Conflict? Duh. [ADDENDUM: Great piece in the N.Y. Times over the weekend suggesting Philadelphia may win the dubious prize of being the first big American city without a daily newspaper. I wonder which Alabama city of size will win that depressing lottery here?] [ALSO: as we've long noted here, small town weekly papers are fairing better than the larger citypapers because no one else is doing their job, says AP story. [AND: WBHM's Tanya Ott filed a report carried on Morning Edition on 8/10 about a new small paper being launched in Pelham!] [PLUS: Dan Rather with an excellent telling of the reason broadcast news is bad and getting worse with the demise of newspapers.] [AND FURTHERMORE: Conflicts of interest are also an issue in New Media. Read this Times story about blogs, and ask if Twitter should be included!] [The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]