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January 26, 2005

Ethics schmethics

First there was Armstrong Williams.

And as David Corn warned...there's more:

In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal. Her work under the contract, which ran from January through October 2002, included drafting a magazine article for the HHS official overseeing the initiative, writing brochures for the program and conducting a briefing for department officials.

And why didn't she disclose this contract?

"I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it. My apologies to my readers."

I don't accept "I forgot" from my kids when they "forget" to do their chores. What a lame excuse for a violation of the public trust and journalistic ethics.

And while we're on journalistic ethics, Media Matters takes Talon News to task for being an arm of the Republican Party, as opposed to a news service.

Posted by Carla at January 26, 2005 04:50 PM