For my second blog post, I will be discussing the New York Times regulations regarding ethical issues in reporting when it comes to family ties. The ethical issue discussed is that “any staff member who sees a potential for conflict or a threat to the paper’s reputation with his or her supervising editor and the standards editor or the deputy editorial page editor.” This means that if you are a reporter for the times and you have information that was given to you through family ties and it could potentially harm the paper, you must report it. It can also mean that the Times has the option, after disclosing, to withdraw the reporter may have to withdraw, transfer departments or have assignments modified, depending on the extent of the conflict.
The guidelines say that the Times has no wish to intrude into the lives of their staff members and families, which I see as a pro in this issue. For as much as they try to protect their reputation, they do try and keep their staff members away from conflict. As a con, they are putting their staff members in a complicated position because if they have to, they are making their people chose between a work life and their family ties. I think that the Times puts to much pressure in this clause on its employees to judge what needs to be disclosed and what doesn’t. Without strong guidelines to follow to prevent any ethical conflicts, it is hard to determine what is considered bad to the paper.
As a solution, the paper should publish a vague list of things that would fall under need to be disclosed and what not. This would prevent any miscommunication and would establish a strong repore between the paper and staff members. Attached below, you will find the link to the article I am discussing.
https://www.nytimes.com/editorial-standards/ethical-journalism.html#sortingOutFamilyTies
Challenges of Reporting on Politics 