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Is Canzano being unethical?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by statrat, Aug 15, 2007.

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  1. DougDascenzo

    DougDascenzo Member

    Wrong. We absolutely have control over what is perceived, which is why we take care, in the stories we write, not to look bias or judgmental. As far as an ethical situation goes, as I've said before, perception is everything.

    We may have to agree to disagree on this one, Jay.
     
  2. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    The day a team executive announces a "partnership" with a journalist -- not a deal with a radio station for air time or a business-to-business marketing arrangement -- is the day that journalist is bought and paid for.

    If that announcement doesn't make Canzano sick to the point that he pulls the plug on this, then he is bought and paid for.
     
  3. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    It doesn't look like a conflict of interest unless you tear away so many layers of the onion, you don't even have an onion left. That's the problem here.
     
  4. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest

    Movie critic paid by a movie studio.

    Restaurant critic paid by a restaurant.

    Theater critic paid by a theater owner.

    What was the question, again?
     
  5. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    JayFarrar, Mizzou and SEC Guy, have you ever taken an ethics course or picked up a text on the subject in your lives? If you had, you would grasp the whole "appearance" concept.

    This looks bad for Canzano and the Oregonian, which means it is bad. They hire one freelancer to write about their coverage of the team months ago and, from that point on, can crawl into bed with the Blazers?

    The Oregonian, if it is so deferential to its columnist's earning power, should either pay him outright, pay to sponsor his show on a radio station not owned by a local team owner or move someone into the columnist spot who will see how compromised this current arrangement looks.
     
  6. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Jay and Mizzou, I guess what I'm having a hard time understanding is your absolute, 100 percent defense of this.

    I made my points two pages ago. Either A) people will think that if he ever lays off or makes excuses for the Blazers, he's doing so because he's on the payroll (whether it's true or not) or B) the danger exists that Canzano will be extra hard on the Blazers to prove he's not being influenced, which to me is just as dangerous.

    Mizzou, Canzano might be the most unaffected, ethical person in history. Your defense of him on that front is fine. It might well be true.

    What you keep ignoring is this: That doesn't matter. Whenever he comments on the Blazers, people will have the situation in the back of their minds.

    These other defenses -- Allen probably doesn't even know he owns the radio station (yeah, right) and it's about time the poor downtrodden masses in the newspaper business got the cash that's coming to them, regardless of where it's coming from -- are, in a word, silly. As is the "the Oregonian says it's OK, so it must be right" defense. Of course -- we know nobody at newspapers is making suspect decisions in management these says.

    I'm actually much less hard-core about columnists and beat writers making extra money on the side doing electronic gigs than others here are. I think it's OK, and I DO THINK it can benefit the paper.

    This is a bad one, though. No way to spin it otherwise.
     
  7. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest

    Then perhaps you'll be kind enough to explain it to us.
     
  8. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    While JG makes an excellent point, a better analogy would be movie critic who works for the media division of a large corporate entity and one of many other divisions of that company also happens to be a studio.
    Allen also owns a movie studio, and a large chunk of Dreamworks.
    As a matter of fact, Allen owns nearly 50 companies and the holding company's Web site, vulcan.com, doesn't even list the radio station. Nor does his personal Web site, paulallen.com. I did learn that he owns Charter Communications, the cable company.
    So I guess no sportswriters who cover the Seahawks or Blazers should ever appear on CSS's SportsNite. Pretty safe guess that it won't happen given the geography. Unless of course the northwest has something similar.
    The navel gazing Poynter police are out in full force without knowing all the details.
    What Canzano does or doesn't do makes me no never mind. What irks me is the assumption that he is doing something wrong when the people who do know, say it isn't.

    Side note to the Poynter police...
    Could Canzano host a sports show on Charter if they had a Pacific Northwest all-sports channel?
     
  9. broadway joe

    broadway joe Guest

    Mind-boggling. Just mind-boggling.
     
  10. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest

    If you want to torture the metaphor further, using corporate impersonality and the physical distance to the accounting department as the ethical fig leaf, fine. And again, this is a steady job hosting a show. This isn't the occasional guest appearance.

    - He's a movie critic hired by Time. But 90% of what he's being hired to write about are Warner Brothers films. This is known to the public.

    - He's a restaurant critic-at-large, who eats wherever he likes, but his paycheck comes from Applebee's. This is known to the public.

    - He's a theater critic allowed to roam Broadway as he chooses, paid by Disney through an affiliation with the Schuberts. This is known to the public.

    In every instance, there's going to be a question about the impartiality of the coverage. Even if the coverage is demonstrably impartial.
     
  11. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Not even close, Mizzou. Been working at good places for a long time, trying to maintain some standards all the while.

    Now, how about you answering my question: Any ethics classes along the way?

    (jgmacg, you've clearly been well-schooled on this topic.)
     
  12. awriter

    awriter Active Member

    Canzano is one of the best in the business. Great writer, great reporter, great guy, has never been afraid to lower the boom on the Blazers, but having said that, this is clearly a conflict of interest. Period.
    And Mizzou, Paul Allen is extremely in tune to all things Blazers-related. He is way more hands-on than people think.
     
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