I take no joy in writing this column. As has been reported in the Mercury News and elsewhere, one of our reporters recently violated a basic journalistic ethical principle, and I want to tell you today what we did and why. Since many Internet companies are considered extremely desirable stocks, brokers often allocate most of an initial public offering to preferred customers, such as institutional investors. But the new company often reserves a small portion of stock for sale to friends and business contacts. As a result of creating this apparent conflict of interest, Chris was suspended and then reassigned as a reporter in our Peninsula Bureau.
Talk Is Cheap column.
There are a handful of time-honored principles that we all learn in Journalism 101. They aren't part of some policy. Many newspapers, including the Mercury News, have ethics codes . Central to most of them is a commitment to bend over backward to avoid conflicts of interest, or even the possible appearance of conflicts of interest, that could arise from too-cozy relationships with those we cover. Without quality, there is no credibility.