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Radio, newspaper, and my ethics

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by CanzanoJohn, Aug 21, 2007.

  1. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Michael Kay does Yankees radio play by play and is an ESPN Radio host.

    Jim Donovan does Indians TV play by play, Browns preseason play by play, and is the lead sports man for Cleveland's NBC affiliate. Heck, FSN Ohio is run right out of WKYC's offices.

    Matt Underwood continued to work as a broadcaster for Cleveland's ABC affiliate for years after becoming an Indians radio play-by-play guy.

    Happens all the time, everywhere. Debate whether it affects ethics. But it's reality and it's not going away and it's obviously accepted within the industry as well as by viewers/readers/listeners.
     
  2. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    John,
    You say you would feel different if you were a beat writer who was covering the Blazers every day? How do you mean that? You'd feel differently about you, the beat writer, doing the radio show on Allen's station? Or you'd feel differently about your sports section's columnist, already the highest-paid sportswriter on staff, chasing a second job that has him pocketing checks from the owner of the team that you, the beat guy, cover?

    What you're saying is, John Canzano gets to disregard ethics, both in practice and in appearance, while the guys on the lower rungs have to adhere.

    I also don't believe that someone can add a 10-hours-on-the-air, X-hours-of-preparation-work job to a full-time newspaper job without stealing money from both employers, in terms of hours shortchanged or corners cut. But if you were double-dipping so extensively at a station that wasn't a conflict of interest, I wouldn't say "boo" here. Then it would simply be on the Oregonian editors to stop embracing double standards of work ethic, professionalism and so on.

    Also, please stop the intellectual dishonesty of referring to "flagship" stations. It's not quite the same thing as working for a station owned by the team owner, especially in a smallish market.
     
  3. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Accepted by what industry?
    Not one of them is considered a "journalist" or works for a newspaper. That always has been the difference.
     
  4. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    The one they are in -- journalism.
     
  5. GuessWho

    GuessWho Active Member

    And away we go ...
     
  6. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    If you are a sports anchor for an NBC or ABC affiliate, you are in the journalism industry.

    Michael Kay, maybe not so much; still, he's got a radio show that from what I understand is unaffiliated with the Yankees.
     
  7. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member


    Not to pick on you, John, because you are far from the first person to make this point, but it bugs me when professional journalists cite this as some kind of fact without being able to give even one example of a newspaper's circulation increasing after its sports columnist goes on the air. It would seem it's just as likely that the opposite is true: No need to read this guy now that he's yacking on the radio.
     
  8. spaceman

    spaceman Active Member

    Man, fuck those guys.
     
  9. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Joe,

    How would you feel if your newspaper expected you to do the same amount of work for the print version but wanted you add blogs, file extra stories for the web, produce videos for the web, maybe do some radio/podcasts all for the same pay.

    I know it's crazy to think that might happen, but just playing devil's advocate here.
     
  10. CanzanoJohn

    CanzanoJohn New Member

    Don't mistake my post for me wanting the approval of everyone on this board. Just ain't the case. I saw an opportunity to set some things straight, and tell you where I'm coming from. I addressed the newsroom at The Oregonian in the same fashion last week because I wanted transparency, and people to know I'd given this some thought, but I'm not looking for approval here.

    I'm doing this show. I'm doing it with autonomy. And the program is going to help promote the newspaper's content.

    Work load?

    That's my problem. The column won't suffer. If it does, I'm f-ing dumb.
     
  11. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    John, you can get this over with simply. Just come out and say, in all honesty:

    "I'm doing this radio show on Paul Allen's station because I want the money and I enjoy doing it. My newspaper job doesn't require me to work 40 hours a week, so I can fudge there and wing it on the air (which is way easier than writing anyway). My bosses at the paper don't have the stones to tell one of their big dogs, me, to dial it back or to focus on my main job, because I might leave and they'd have to work on filling my spot. (But they clobbered that news-side guy who parked for free because, well, where was he going to go?)

    "I know it's a conflict of interest for me to have a financial relationship with a Paul Allen company, but the lines already are so blurred in the newspaper business -- and sports is barely journalism in most folks' eyes -- that it is OK for me to further blur them for my personal gain. And never mind what mom and dad said: Doing something just because everybody else is doing it is a great reason!

    "My going on the air brings more readers to the newspaper because . . . um . . . I say so. Those folks who say, I'll just listen and skip paying for his column, well, they probably would stop reading anyway. And all those who don't agree with my ethics, stop reading and stop listening! Yeah, my newspaper and radio employers will agree with me on that.

    "Maybe this newspaper business used to be special, but now it's `get as much as you can for yourself, as quickly as you can before the gigs dry up.' It's like any other job now. I am an independent contractor and both my time and my values are for sale. If the radio folks want, I'll read ad copy for septic tanks. In time, I'll plug the Blazers bobblehead promotions. Say, did you know I have my own bobblehead doll? ... "
     
  12. How is what John is doing any worse than drawing a paycheck covering the Red Sox from a newspaper whose parent company owns a share of the Red Sox?
     
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