NY Times columnist David Brooks as a case study for why disclosure matters in journalism
It’s a simple lesson that I teach my Journalism I students, largely high school freshmen, during the first week of class. It is item #3 on the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.
Act Independently.
The basics of why journalists cannot take payment for news coverage is that it damages this independence. If a reporter gets payment, a gift, free travel or the like, there may be the implication that the reporter will pull their punches and give favorable and untrue coverage of that person or group.
In short, independence separates the journalist from the subject of the story. That distance protects the reporter, the news organization, and the reader.
“The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.”
What does this have to do with David Brooks?
Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times. According to his bio on the Times site, he’s been with the Times since 2003 and writes about “Politics, culture and the social sciences.”
Let’s focus on the disclosures in his biography. “Mr. Brooks also teaches at Yale University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.”
So Brooks is also drawing a salary from Yale. This disclosure is good and ethical. It lets the reader know any writing he has about Yale University or organizations and individuals associated with Yale University may be biased because he’d like to keep that job.
Fair enough. This is how disclosure is supposed to work.
The issue came to light thanks to recent reporting from Craig Silverman and Ryan Mac at BuzzFeed News that Brooks has been taking money from Facebook via a think tank project called Weave. The specifics are a little convoluted, and you can read all the details at BuzzFeed News, but let’s talk about why this is a big deal for Brooks and the New York Times.
Here’s the crux of it:
A Times spokesperson refused to tell BuzzFeed News whether the paper was aware Brooks was taking a salary for his work on Weave, a project he founded and leads for the Aspen Institute, a prominent think tank based in Washington, DC. The spokesperson also wouldn’t say if the Times knew that Weave took money from Facebook.
Issues:
- Brooks took payment from an outside entity from the New York Times and did not disclose it to the Times.
- Brooks wrote about Weave while simultaneously taking payment for his work. Some of the funding came from Facebook, which he also has written about.
Columnists are journalists. Their work is set aside from the rest of the newspaper or website in the opinion section as their writing usually includes opinion and analysis. The Boston Globe gives a solid definition:
A COLUMNIST gives opinions, usually his or her own. A columnist is expected to gather accurate information, just as a reporter does, and then comment on that information. A columnist has more latitude and license than a reporter and is not constrained by the rule of impartiality that governs news writing. While they are subject to the editing and approval of one or more editors, columnists can write just about what they please, as long as it remains within the boundaries of good taste and public acceptability, as defined by the paper.
The New York Times requires all employees to disclose their financial interests.
No staff member may own stock or have any other financial interest in a company, enterprise or industry that figures or is likely to figure in coverage that he or she provides, edits, packages or supervises regularly.
Earlier in the same online document the Times’ spells out why these rules exist:
The Times treats its readers as fairly and openly as possible. In print and online, we tell our readers the complete, unvarnished truth as best we can learn it. It is our policy to correct our errors, large and small, as soon as we become aware of them.
Bottom line: David Brooks wrote columns that purported to be independent, but were essentially paid advertising, and he (likely) did not disclose this arrangement to the New York Times.
This may not be a career ender, but certainly should be a job ender with The New York Times.
