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Commentary by TrueDialog.org's Founder, Carl Lindemann September 1 - Blogging for Fun & Profit or a Free Market Approach to News (Note: See disclosures about previous reporting/writing on Senator Susan Collins below) The line that separates being a public relations "flak" and a news reporter "hack" continues to fade, much to the detriment of journalism. More and more, reporters stressed by overwork and deadlines become more like stenographers passing along lightly reworked PR press releases. Worse, crossing this line from hack to flak and back has become more of a revolving door as some pass to and fro these parallel, though fundamentally different professions. One hope for restoring the authenticity of the Fourth Estate in the face of this erosion is the rising, independent voice of online reporters and commentators. Most significantly, the deepening scandal over the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys might never have come forward if not for the diligent work of bloggers who connected the dots in what had been a disjointed story presented piecemeal in the mainstream media. In Maine, Lance Dutson's Web log boasts that his "Maine Web Report is your alternative to the decrepid (sp) pandering of the Maine's old media." Dutson received visibility - and apparent legitimacy - after being selected as one of the credentialed bloggers for the "Scooter" Libby trial. Now, he's taken on another assignment - flacking for Senator Susan Collins' reelection campaign. With this, Dutson's editorial policy becomes a hoot. Just the facts, Ma'am. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain spinning them or what conflicts of interest might compromise his ability to provide "independent" reporting. Yesterday, Dutson announced that he will be granted journalist credentials to report on the UNH/ Fox News Republican Presidential debate on September 5. It is amazing that his role as Director of Internet Strategy for the Collins campaign apparently did not disqualify him. Or, it may be that those granting credentials were unaware of his new title. On July 23, the Portland Press Herald published a story about the rise of blogging as a news source declared that "people like Lance Dutson...have made a name for citizen journalists." The reporter, Justin Ellis, failed to note that Dutson had become a paid political partisan to what had become a central story in his coverage as a "citizen journalist." A call to Ellis last week to see whether or not he was aware of this fact was not returned. So what's wrong with having a Republican Senator's Director of Internet Strategy cover a Republican Presidential debate? Will Dutson be "reporting" or simply angling for a better gig with one of these other Republican campaigns? The contacts he makes as a reporter here are ever-more-valuable as providing entree for marketing his other services. It is a reasonable concern that it is possible for him to leverage favorable "reporting" for a particular candidate to advance his professional political work. I suppose that Dutson, an advocate of the so-called "free market", might claim that restricting his trade with things like ethical constraints on conflicts of interest is unacceptable. Perhaps a great deal of what passes for journalism today is conducted with reporters having an eye to how they might slant coverage for personal gain. Even so, this is a far cry from how professional journalists should "seek truth and report it." NOW...ABOUT THOSE DISCLOSURES... I will be writing more here (and elsewhere) about Dutson's conflicts of interest as a "citizen journalist" soon. In the meantime, let me share how I worked through a similar situation. First, let me take this opportunity to disclose my previous connections to this story. In 1996, I was working as the morning host on now-defunct WCDQ-FM in Sanford, Maine. As it happened, the Portland Press Herald was sponsoring a local debate with the candidates in the Senate race as part of its "civic journalism" initiative. I covered the event for my morning newscast. Then-candidate Susan Collins made a pledge to serve only two terms if elected. I saved the tape - I like to see if candidates keep such pledges. Fast-forward six years. I wrote Senator Collins to see if she planned on keeping her pledge. In a letter dated September 6, 2002, she confirmed that she did: "I am proud of the accomplishments I have made during my first term, and I hope to have the opportunity to serve the people of Maine in the Senate for another six years. I intend to serve only two terms as I indicated in the Sanford forum six years ago." I wrote an op/ed piece about the significance of her commitment that was published in the Portland Press Herald on October 7, 2002. Based on some of the reasons expressed in that piece, I decided to make a campaign contribution to her opponent in her reelection race on October 24. Now, this history sets the stage for explaining how I handled a journalistic conflict-of-interest. While I was involved in my "citizen journalism" public discussion of the Senator in 2002, I was doing occasional on-air fill-ins on a news-talk radio station, WGAN-AM in Portland, Maine. I also did occasional news pieces when they wanted to enhance local coverage. Election Eve is an "all hands on deck" situation at any news-talk station. I was expected to help out. The tough question was - which campaign headquarters should I be assigned to cover? I fully apprised the news director of my connections to the Collins/Pingree Senate race and we agreed that both campaigns were off-bounds. Instead, I drew Peter Cianchette's, the GOP candidate for Governor. How did I do? No one complained about my coverage. In fact, the WGAN team was honored by winning the 2003 Maine Association of Broadcasters news award for best election coverage - besting the powerhouse NPR affiliate. This makes for an interesting footnote, given my current issues involving the Maine Heritage Policy Center - MHPC is made up of many former Cianchette staffers who were at the event. With my professional work in broadcast journalism, trade writing, and high tech public relations, I have managed similar ethical issues. I've turned down lucrative, high profile work because of possible problems. I try to be cautious and conscientious. Are there conflicts of interest? It appears that bloggers, not knowing what the boundaries are for professional journalism, have no problem jumping back and forth from "reporting" to PR and promotion. Rather than raising the bar by demonstrating the value of "independent" media, this demonstrates (to paraphrase Dutson) "the hearty pandering of Maine's new media." *** The Wages of Spin Project Spin Shop Ideas & Essays Spin Shops, State by State
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