Planned Stossel appearance raises ethical concerns

Several business news veterans said the planned appearance by Fox Business Network anchor John Stossel at a paid event for a non-profit organization with heavy ties to the energy industry raises concerns about ethics and conflict of interest, reports Joe Strupp of Media Matters.

Stossel is scheduled to appear at a June 4 event for the Institute for Energy Research.

Strupp writes, “‘It is clearly a conflict of interest and certainly a potential conflict of interest,’ Rob Reuteman, president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and a former Rocky Mountain News business editor, said about Stossel’s event. ‘They should probably not allow it. He is going to go back and report on energy. How do you take him as a credible source?’

“For Kevin Hall, national economics correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, the appearance at such events is usually a bad idea. ‘We are supposed to be objective filters,’ he said. ‘I have a hard time when reporters appear at trade groups. Even if you are not taking money, you are appearing there. That is odd.’

“Marty Wolk, executive business editor of MSNBC.com, said he would have concerns if one of his reporters came to him with such a plan: ‘When you appear at an event like that, you should do it in an appropriate capacity and not in a capacity where it can be seen as advocating a point of view.'”

Read more here.