Journalists need to be entrepreneurs and build their own companies. It is how the journalism lifespan will continues explains Kevin Smith, Chairman of the SPJ Ethics Committee. But with the need for start-ups in journalism, Smith sees the ethics within the adventure getting left behind.
Kevin Smith sat down with author Mark Briggs and The Lens co-founder Ariel Cohen on a panel to discuss the ethics involved in the entrepreneurial journalism at the Excellence in Journalism 2011 Conference.
Briggs recently wrote the book Entrepreneurial Journalism. He sees the number one issue with journalism ethics to be the dilemma for wearing two hats.
“Some people feel that journalism and money don’t mix, but unfortunately, that’s just not how it is anymore,” says Briggs. Entrepreneurial journalists have to both drive the editorial coverage and worry about the money.
He believes the best way to combat these sometimes contradictory roles is through transparency. The reader needs to know who is giving money and what exactly is being done with the money. This is important, especially with hyper local coverage because of local advertisers. He stresses that the minute a journalist lose credibility is the minute the business component dies as well.
“Transparency is really paramount to our mission and our operation,” agreed Cohen. She experienced this with The Lens first hand. The Lens is a local start up in investigative reporting. In New Orleans, just like anywhere, she sees there are suspicions from the readers, and they need to know what The Lens’s motivations are and the role it plays.
“The best way to do with this is to be abundantly clear,” she advises. Money and leadership in her
Money and leadership coming from all sorts of sides for the Lens, but the site attempts to make it abundantly clear who they are, how they started, and how they are funded to counter suspicions.
“I think that you need to have an ethics plan, just like you have a business model,” says Smith about journalism start-ups. He believes it is paramount, and ethical responsibility needs to be more actively approached.
