In my media ethics class, we were discussing conflict of interest cases. The case we were addressing was whether it was ethic for a journalist or media organization to donate money to a political candidate.

The discussion shifted to a general question: Does a journalist’s personal life cross into professional life?

My stance is this. Journalists are public figures and people will recognize you when you are out and about in the community. Journalists strive for people to know their name and the network or station they are affiliated with. It helps with ratings.

If journalists, in my opinion, are public figures then journalists should expect the public to be watching. What I mean by this is people will see you in public and know you’re on the news. My professor said some people were checking to see what a journalist was buying for cereal. Those situations may be trivial and some may not care, but what if you’re covering a story on cereal? Is that a conflict of interest if you’re purchasing “x” brand cereal that you just covered on the news?

I do think there is a line. After all, journalists are humans. Each one of us has an opinion whether broadcasted or not. I do think journalists need to be cautious with activities “off the clock” because it is a reflection on the news organization, but the public cannot expect journalists to live in a box either.

Where do you think the line is?  Should journalists give up “after hour freedoms” to appear unbiased? Thoughts?