Global Television news anchor Leslie Roberts’ undisclosed connection to a little-known Toronto PR firm has dealt a one-two-three punch to journalism, Global and the public relations industry.
“I was very saddened [by the news] because it’s bad for everyone,” Daniel Tisch, president and CEO of Argyle Communications, told Marketing. “It’s bad for all of the parties, it’s bad for public relations as a profession, it’s bad for journalism as an institution.”
On Jan. 8, Roberts was suspended from Global following a Toronto Star investigation that found he was secretly part owner of BuzzPR, whose clients appeared on his show.
“It’s of the upmost importance that the public has faith that professional journalists working for top-tier media organizations are not going to be unduly influenced by relationships that have a financial dimension,” said Tisch.
Tisch said the controversy also exemplifies an on-going challenge for the PR industry. “There are a lot of people practicing public relations without necessarily subscribing to high ethical codes, principles and standards,” he said.
“This is a challenge for the profession, but there are always going to be ethical public relations practitioners and unethical ones. When it comes to journalists though, it really can be devastating for the reputation of the journalist and the journalistic organization.”
Daniel Torchia, managing director of Torchia Communications, said the news was “a shame” because public relations often gets a bad rap. “If we lose our credibility, then we’ve lost everything,” he said.
As for Global, Torchia said its reputation will also take a hit, but it could either be a blip or become exacerbated, depending on what the organization does next. “Global should proactively communicate the results of the investigation and any corrective measures, including highlights of its hiring procedures,” he said.
Tisch agreed that any damage to Global’s reputation is repairable if indeed no one at the organization knew about the conflict of interest. “The question is, is there some way that they could have prevented it and is there something they can do now to prevent it in the future?” That means Global should review their employee policies, codes and contracts to ensure conflicts won’t arise in the future.
“It’s obviously not illegal for journalists to make investments in different sorts of businesses or even to earn money from other sources,” said Tisch. “But it crosses the ethical lines if there’s potential for that investment to influence the journalists’ decisions or that of their news organization.”
Julie Rusciolelli, president of Toronto-based communications firm Maverick, said she was a “little bit shocked” by the news, as Roberts is “a man of integrity and professionalism.” Rusciolelli believes his only mistake was disclosure. “He made a judgment error. He should have just told his boss or his producer, ‘Hey look, I’ve got a little thing on the side here that you should know about.’ All he had to do was make full disclosure.”
But Tisch disagrees. “I don’t think it’s just a transparency issue,” he said. “When it comes to reputation, there is little distinction between a real conflict and a perceived one. A perceived one can be just as serious a threat to reputation.
“So I think it’s highly questionable for a journalist to have an investment in a firm whose business depends greatly on placing stories in the news media. The potential for conflict and perceived conflict and its impact on the credibility of the journalist and the news organization is just too great.”
Rusciolelli said if the Toronto Star wants to look at ethical issues on journalist integrity, “they’d better save a whole section of the newspaper and look at a lot of journalists.” Some media outlets, she explained, won’t cover a story unless the company buys an ad, journalists accept free trips, and bloggers won’t write anything about clients unless they get paid.
“It is more grey than [people] know,” said Rusciolelli. “We are navigating some very murky waters when it comes to journalism and PR.”
Roberts isn’t the only media personality making headlines over alleged ethical breaches. On Jan. 12, Canadaland reported that CBC’s Amanda Lang tried to halt a story about RBC’s use of temporary foreign workers. Lang was reportedly paid to speak at events sponsored by RBC.
Last year, CBC’s Rex Murphy and Peter Mansbridge were under fire for giving paid speeches at oil industry events. Following the controversy, CBC changed its rules about speaking engagements. The new policy prohibits on-air CBC employees from accepting speaking invitations from companies, political parties, or other groups that lobby or otherwise influence public policy.
