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Boston Globe: Herald columnist’s PR gig a no-no
The Boston Herald’s initial decision to keep Charles D. Chieppo as a regular columnist after he accepted a $10,000 contract from Governor Mitt Romney’s administration to promote its policies in op-ed articles for other media outlets raised major ethical questions, says COM Journalism Professor and Chairman Robert Zelnick in the April 8 Boston Globe. The Associated Press reported two days later that the Herald had since fired Chieppo. “I think it is inappropriate, bordering on improper, for a person to be writing a column one day and consulting actively in a paid position for the administration the same day or even the next day,” Zelnick says. “I think that blurs the lines between legitimate journalism and politics [in a way] that serves neither the administration nor the public and certainly not the newspaper.”
Chieppo’s situation was more troublesome, Zelnick adds, than that of reporters who move between government jobs and journalism over the course of their careers. “I think we’ve become accepting of the existence of a revolving door between the political and journalistic communities, so when an individual goes from a position in the administration to writing a column of opinion, most people take it for what it’s worth,” he says. “They can discount the opinion if they wish. There’s a difference between a revolving door and a newsman who wears two hats simultaneously.”
New York Times, Los Angeles Times: Boston’s memory of John Paul II tainted by handling of sex abuse
“I think that it’s fair to say that John Paul had kind of a love affair with Boston from the time he was archbishop of Krakow and he made a trip here,” says James E. Post, an SMG professor of strategy and policy, in the April 3 New York Times. Post is president of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay group formed in response to the sexual abuse crisis. “There was always a perception of a warm relationship between the people of Boston and the Holy Father.”
On the other hand, “his behavior in response to the sex abuse crisis disappointed many Catholics,” Post says. “He seemed very reluctant to remove Cardinal Law or accept Cardinal Law’s resignation. His personal relationship with the cardinal seemed to stand in the way of his being willing to address the problems of the archdiocese.” Boston Catholics appreciated that the pope eventually met with American cardinals about the crisis, “but when he brought Cardinal Law back to Rome and gave him the appointment at Mary Major, that was more than puzzling — it was deeply disturbing to Catholics in Boston,” he continues. “It seemed that he was being rewarded for bad behavior, and run-of-the-mill ordinary Catholics just saw this de facto as an insult to the people of Boston.”
In a related Los Angeles Times article on April 8, Post says that Law’s upcoming role in choosing a new pope infuriates many Catholics: “It offends our moral sense of right and wrong to have him casting a vote,” he says. “Some people are saying he has been through hell and will bring the wisdom of that experience into the conclave,” pushing to find a pope who “will be stronger in responding to global sex abuse issues. Personally, I think that is a stretch.”
15
April 2005
Boston University
Office of University Relations