A cautionary ethics tale for biz journalists

Bernie Kohn, the business editor of the Baltimore Sun in Maryland, e-mailed with this incident with a business reporter at his paper:

“A few weeks ago one of my reporters was asked by a non-profit association to be on a media panel at its annual conference. Yesterday she learned that her registration fee for the conference had been paid for – without her knowledge or consent – by a company whose name has surfaced in a scandal she has been covering.

“When she was told this was a sponsorship arrangement that had been agreed to with this company – which apparently was covering the registration for everyone on the panel – she canceled her appearance.

“I mention this only as a cautionary note to business reporters and editors asked to be on panels by non-journalism groups. This is not something we would have thought to ask about in advance. I hope it might prevent someone from ending up in an embarrassing situation.”