[Journalists] (no subject)

Fri Nov 28 17:54:56 UTC 2014

HI Nate,

You bring up some excellent questions,and I've struggled with having to
make some tough decisions over the years.
Since I am a reporter covering governmental entities and courts, I've told
our affiliate president that there are certain things I will not do
because of ethical and conflict of interest concerns.

First, I do not take part in the Washington Seminar or in any activities
on our state level involving contacting congressmen and senators. I do not
send letters or tweets asking for support or sponsorship of legislation
including the TEACH Act and the Fair Wages Act.
I also do not post anything to Facebook or Twitter regarding legislative
activities. TThe same holds true for blogging.
If I receive emails from our state or from national about the need to
write letters, make calls and so forth, I forward the information to our
local chapter members and tell them that we have been asked for
assistance.
I am chapter president, and there are advocacy situations that come up
occasionally when I receive calls from people who want our help when they
are not getting services from our state agency or from school districts. I
often have to pass those along to the state president.
The McClatchy newspaper chain has a pretty strict ethics code that we are
required to sign annually. We cannot do certain things such as making
political contributions or volunteering for a candidate's campaign.
We are encouraged to stay away from writing press releases or engaging in
other activities that could be seen as becoming a part of the news story,
so to speak.
Everyone needs to make their own decisions and choices, but my position is
that if you choose journalism as a career, you need to be prepared to make
sacrifices.

Elizabeth Campbell
general assignments reporter
(O 817-390-7696
(c) 817-247-6862
liz at star-telegram.com
Twitter @fwstliz

-----Original Message-----
From: Journalists [mailto:journalists-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Nate Trela via Journalists
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2014 11:31 AM
To: Journalists
Subject: [Journalists] (no subject)

Hello all,

In the months since I have returned to work as a journalist, I have been
struggling with how to balance my desire to be a more active member of the
NFB while not crossing any ethical boundaries (real or perceived).

Clearly, I see no problems with being a proud Federationist, an active
member in our local outreach and fundraising efforts and even a board
member of a local chapter or state affiliate, if the opportunities ever
arise.  It is no different than being a member of any community
orginization.

Vut there are three areas I am considering that I fear might cross a line
or two, whether in the eyes of my current employer or a future one. (I
should stres that I have not discussed these activities yet with my
employerer, and of course would before doing so, but I want to get the
pulse of my fellow blind journalists as well.)

So, in order of least to most potentially problematic

- Tweeting links to NFB campaigns or retweeting NFB material from an
account I use for work. I have done very little tweeting for the news
service I work for, in large part because most of our work is behind a pay
wall, but it is a professional account. My gut is to stay away from policy
and litigation-related tweets, but promoting things such as Bid for
Equality would be OK. I have journalist friends who tweet about
fundraisers for their kids' schools, and I would see this as no different.
But is staying away from more active promotion of NFV activity just being
too cautious?

- Helping with communication/PR efforts of local chapters or state
affiliates. While I was not working, I did some volunteer writing for our
affiliate in Colorado about problems with the waiting list for vocational
rehabilitation in this state. Just profiles of people waiting for
services, only one of which was bylined. I would think helping to craft
releases, advising on media strategy (suggesting thoughts about visuals,
suggestions on how to pitch news outlets) as long as I am not the one
pushing the story or serving as a point of contact. But I don't know if
writing for the affiliate again, say helping with content for its blog,
would be problematic.

- Last - participating more actively in policy matters. In particular I am
thinking about participating in pickets (feels like a solid no to
me) or attending Washington Seminar. The latter really intrigues me and it
does not seem like it would directly impact what I cover now )cleantech,
renewable energy and oil and gas), but I thinkk having actively lobbied
government officials would be problematic down the road if, say, I looked
at returning to a general circulation newspaper and wanted to get back
into education, government or politics coverage.

So, thoughts?

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