Then again, maybe it's Newsweek that corrupted itself. After all, Time is Newsweek's main rival. Take your pick. Moreover, as our article on page 58 about how the family owners of a small Maine newspaper apparently pulled punches on stories that might have hurt local business interests demonstrates, traditional, independent news entities don't have a monopoly on virtue. Similarly, Time magazine today is certainly a fairer, less compromised magazine than it was in the days of founder Henry Luce, who used it as a soapbox for his conservative views.
Some conflicts are avoidable.
Most are at least disclosable. And over the years, most good journalism companies have been sensitive about not compromising standards because of conflicts. That's because when a company is primarily in the business of journalism it knows, or should know, that it can't compromise its product to satisfy some short term business need. Thus, when it was revealed last fall that the Los Angeles Times had made a deal to share the profit of an issue of its Sunday magazine with the issue's main subject, a local sports arena, the newspaper quickly retreated in an orgy of self-flagellation and apology. But together, Dan Rather, Bob Wood-ward, and everyone else working in or connected to those two divisions accounted for about 2 percent of their company's cash flow in 1998.