Professional commitment to provide balanced coverage is what keeps reporters' political views out of the news columns, not apathy. But professional commitment may not always be enough to overcome emotion. Every reporter should be allowed one moral conflict of interest. Hendley said that abortion is hers, that she had told her employers about it, and that it is unrealistic to expect reporters to be objective about every issue. But it doesn't follow that reporters should be allowed to express their views through non-journalistic political statements.
Journalists already have a unique forum in which to express their judgments.
Journalists are, by profession, civic and political activists. They bring matters of importance to public attention and frame the public debate. The question is not whether journalists should be allowed to participate in public political activity, but whether or not they should be allowed to exert influence in public arenas beyond the one they already control. A cause that has a reporter or columnist or editor in its ranks gains credibility through the journalist's association. Journalists cannot remove their professional cloaks when they leave the newsroom.