This article originally appeared on Present and has been reprinted here with permission.
Freelancers looking to write for NPR can start by perusing its ethics manual, as verbose as it is.
That's because "living documents", available on the NPR . website which involves contract workers as well as employees — and can have implications for the broader work group of freelancers, says Mark Memmott, who oversees 20 — standards editor manual section standards and practices.
“Although it is written for journalists in the country, the same principles apply to those in the freelance community,” said Memmott, who helps editors explain how ethics policy applies. used for specific situations.
But how does someone who works for dozens of clients with a variety of funding models determine what causes conflict? And — in an American economy that might be 40 percent freelance by 2020 – is it enough to have a policy that does not specifically address the nuances of contract work?
For example, it is generally agreed that employees and freelancers alike should not cover a spouse's company or political campaign. But what if a freelancer once contributed to an airline's in-flight magazine and was then asked to cover the airline industry?
Kelly McBride, a media ethicist at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., indicates such a situation does not necessarily lead to conflict. But editors and contributors should discuss such matters to be sure.
For these reasons, she doesn't think phrases like "above reproach" and "beyond conflict" are useful in written policies, or at least unrelated to those freelance contributors.
“That doesn't really acknowledge that most organizations aren't as reprehensible as they used to be,” she said. "You don't pay freelancers full-time, so it's hard to ask them not to get some form of payment when that could be their way of supporting themselves."
That said, McBride said she understands how important it is to keep freelancers by the same code of ethics as employees, especially when differences in employment status can be loss to readers and listeners.
Conflict of interest
Perhaps the most difficult to determine, let alone parse in a written policy, is whether a freelancer's work as a whole could be grounds for disqualification from contributing to a publication. newspaper.
“If most of their work leans towards the public relations side or the paid content side, it will be very difficult for us to work with them on news writing,” Memmott said of the aspiring contributors. hope. "I don't know where the line is, but there's a line - when you step over it - it's very difficult to get back to the other side."
But with more publications opening the door to sponsored or endorsed content, and more companies completely bypassing those restrictions to create their own content, the line between editorial and advertising has blurred. unrecognizable. While publications are navigating these new funding models for journalism, freelance contributors are trying to make a living on the front lines of those changes.
Randy Dotinga, a freelance journalist for publications like Christian Science Monitor and president of the American Association of Journalists and Authors, said these lines are harder to navigate than ever, with the advent of sponsored content that can include writing for a company blog or closing Donate to one of those flying magazines.
“Sponsored content tends to pay quite a bit more, so a lot of journalists who use it to subsidize traditional journalism get paid less,” he said of ASJA members. “I always say, if you have a conflict, you should disclose it or remove it. In this new age, with all these different styles of writing, it becomes harder to figure out if you really have a conflict. ”
Ensure ethics policies are “published”, said Sue Schardt, chief executive officer of Association of Independents at Radio, said: . Her organization has its own code of conduct, and she encourages those embracing the work of contributors to ensure policies are “no hassle but part of daily business routine. ”
Mark Miller, managing editor of Marketplace .
Primarily, he said, it depends on the conversation between the editor and the contributor, as well as case-by-case decisions about the possibility of a conflict of interest.
“I don't have any problem asking a freelancer, 'Let me know if there are any potential conflicts,' and going over some specifics,” says Miller. “I think the bigger issue is just making sure you do it on a regular basis.”
Schardt of AIR agrees, and suggests that such conversations should become routine for editors working with an increasing number of freelance contributors. AIR's membership has grown by more than 80 percent over the past year, thanks in part to new opportunities for producers, such as podcasts. And the majority of 1,300 members have three or four titles that include positions such as educator or editor as well as storyteller.
These changes “really put all of us in a position where we have to consider and decide from time to time: What is Public Service Communication? Our independent producers are on the front lines” to answer that question, she said.
A new approach to freelance work?
Many organizations' ethics policies can go further, says McBride, by stating what is expected of freelancers operating in an entirely different environment from production staff, writers, and employees. online contributors.
After years of claiming that their ethics policy also applies to independent contributors, The New York Times created a separate questionnaire for freelancers to help them adopt ethics policies by asking if they would accept free travel or gifts in exchange for insurance, for example.
In spite of How long is it safe? , McBride said having a separate policy avoids the pitfalls of organizational guidelines. so vague that they become irrelevant to freelancers.
Without a separate policy, stand-alone clause Things like this in the NPR handbook are difficult for freelancers to explain: “We had to get written permission from our supervisor for all outside freelance and journalistic work, whether paid or voluntary, from written articles to speeches.”
Dotinga says that in her field of work, that's just unrealistic.
“There is so much content that freelancers can create in their careers, etc. Dotinga says. “It creates all sorts of ethical problems for journalists and those who hire us, like NPR.”
Memmott says one way NPR addresses those ethical issues is by fostering open dialogue between freelancers and their contributors and editors. For example, employees cannot write about political causes for which their family members are active, and neither can freelancers.
But what if a freelancer wrote for an organization a few years ago. and now want to write about that organization?
“May mean we say, 'No, thanks.' That means we ask a lot of questions and can feel comfortable if it's been a full year since then, with a proven track record of independent journalism,” says Memmott, who encourages Freelancers mention any potential conflicts with their editors.
When it comes to traveling for a story, the lines are more defined: “We pay our own way, and we have to make sure that even people who come to us from the outside are not harmed. excessive influence. ”
That means if a freelancer wants to uncover a story for NPR that requires travel, they must avoid any offers of free travel and first ask an editor whether NPR will deliver the bill, as it would for a staff reporter. Dotinga points out that many freelancers end up paying to travel at their own expense to avoid conflicts of interest while researching new stories. Sometimes they can get a refund upon publication.
In her book The New Ethic of Journalism: Principles for the 21st Century McBride pushes against old standards of independence to argue for a more measured approach that takes into account new types of content.
She said that today's media consumers are less likely to believe that there are no conflicts of interest and more likely to be seeking transparency about what conflicts do exist. That means freelancers have to be transparent with their editors — a task made easier by understanding ethics policies that function as a test for deliberation. conflict with outside work.
The real problem, McBride said, no matter where or how the story is published, "is when the story you're writing doesn't achieve journalistic integrity."
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