The latest scandal to rock the CBC is once again hitting a little too close to home. Journalists such as Jian Ghomeshi and now Evan Solomon are giving the rest of us a bad name. Despite Solomon’s confusion, there are clear, unwritten lines known by every journalist. These are the lines we do not cross and these are the lines that separate us from citizen journalists as clearly as the bar separates lawyers from the public.
I’ll start by explicating the situation Solomon currently finds himself in. The 47-year-old hosted Power and Politics in Ottawa for CBC News and The House on CBC Radio. He was tasked with interviewing politically important and business-oriented people, which meant asking difficult questions that sometimes put them in the hot seat. Outside of his role as a reporter, Solomon was involved in brokering art sales between collectors and rich and famous people. On at least one occasion, this brought in a profit of at least $300,000.
And that right there is where the trouble starts. Essentially, Solomon was making hundreds of thousands of dollars off people he would have to interview eventually, if he hadn’t already. As Toronto Star reporter Kevin Donovan asked, “How can you ask tough questions against people you might have a financial interest in or get a benefit from?” It’s a conflict of interest and one that Solomon should have been well aware of already.
All journalists know that people have expectations of them. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes not so right. It’s the journalist’s job to differentiate and understand where his or her primary loyalty lies.
Since long before my time, journalists in modern society earned the role of the “watchdogs of society.” Beholden to no one but the truth, they are the ones people turn to in order to expose injustices such as wrongful deportation, corrupt politicians, flaws in the system, etc. Some notable examples include the famous Watergate scandal, Dale Brazao’s nursing home exposé, the Toronto Star Ornge investigation and their Dirty Dining investigation in 2000.
It’s not just a matter of hearing what someone says and printing it word for word. It’s about fairness, objectivity, and proper filtering. In a real-world application, this would mean getting both sides of the story, verifying all information, and writing the story with as little personal bias as possible.
Unfortunately, journalists are still humans too and unless we can become islands unto ourselves, it’s sometimes difficult to see where those lines are drawn. Why? Because part of our job involves networking. This leads to an inevitable situation whereby we have to make connections without becoming best friends with everyone. If a journalist was living in a small town (such as Humboldt), this means he or she can’t become too friendly with people in positions of authority or power because it can create a conflict of interest. A line of professionalism must always be maintained even while fostering good relations.
Due to these types of situations, the expectations of people start to change. Just because we become friendly with someone doesn’t mean we’re going to bend the rules to suit his or her needs. For example, we might be interviewing sources and they’ll ask us to omit a piece of information or phrase something in a positive light for them. Oftentimes, we’ll be asked to let them review the article before publishing or review their quotes.
For those of you who don’t know, here’s the honest truth: nobody outside of a newsroom is ever allowed to read an article prior to publishing. It’s against every newspaper’s policy and it’s unethical. We also don’t let people see their quotes because they always – and I mean ALWAYS – ask us to change words here and there. No. We don’t do that for anyone because it’s not our job to make you look good. If you need to improve your image, hire a public relations firm. In the editorial department, our job is to report the information that you give us, not twist your words so you look pristine.
For any legitimate journalist, this is all basic. Solomon should have known better, but his actions shouldn’t tar all journalists the same. The rest of us know where the lines are drawn.
