Michael Kane, Publisher of the Democrat & Chronicle, responded to a letter from leaders of the Rochester Newspaper Guild by claiming that the D&C has not suffered from diminished ethical standards in its changeover to the more digitally focused RochesterInformation Center.
Guild members disagree, however, from a February 13th Editor & Publisher report:
"As newsroom and multimedia employees of the Democrat and Chronicle we are growing increasingly concerned with what seems to be the newspaper's -- and Gannett's -- shifting ethical lines," the letter, which E&P wrote about Monday, said in part. "At a time when we are trying to restructure ourselves within a new media environment, our ethical foundation should be more firmly grounded than ever. To be flexible and nimble as a newspaper and multimedia company should not mean our ethics are also flexible."
The guild members went on to cite two recent incidents that they believed had crossed ethical lines. Among them was the apparent byline of the editorial page editor on a news story. "This could give the impression that favorable opinion can be garnered for government projects or programs by approaching the editorial board with news tips, as happened here," the letter stated.
The other was the paper's political blog offering "no distinction between the opinionated musings of editorial writers and the reporting of news staff."The 39 members of the Newspaper Guild of Rochester Local 17 represent 85 staffers at the Gannett Co. Inc. What is D&C Editor Karen Magnuson saying? No surprise:
"I don't have any problem with anything we are doing here," she said. "I think our newsroom conducts itself with the highest ethical standards."We should expect this from Ms. Magnuson. As we highlighted in a story about the D&C Editorial Board and the Greater Rochester Enterprise, the investment in certain organizations by the D&C produces coverage of those entities with a blatant agenda.
Leave the blogging to the professionals, D&C, we'll handle it -
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