This section of reading mirrored a lot of what was covered in Journalism Ethics last year, but the one issue that came up that I hadn't thought about before was "checkbook journalism."
As far as I can tell, journalists are in constant competition, always poised on the proverbial blocks, waiting for a good story like a runner waits for the blast of the starting gun. So it makes sense that at some point in the game, journalists might have to pay sources for information.
"It's hard to argue that the ordinary person shouldn't share in the benefit of what's going to be a commercial product," says Everette Dennis, senior vice president of the Freedom Forum International Consortium of Universities.
But is journalism really a commercial product? If so, then I'm out. Now.
And on the financial end of things, can journalists afford to pay off their sources? Journalism and wealth aren't normally used in the same sentence.
But more than that, I'm worried about what this says about journalism and our society in general. If people expect payment for quotes, then where is the social duty in journalism? Money has a tendency to suck the dignity out of a profession.
It just worries me, that's all
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