could I get an opinion?

[Donna Halper]

At 04:14 PM 7/27/2008, Paul Hopfgarten wrote:
>What I'm seeing here....
>
>Those that support Obama are defending him, those not so are not...

And that really bothers me -- it wasn't intended to be a referendum 
on whether we like a candidate.  Should our personal views on 
somebody affect whether we are fair to them in our coverage?  I train 
journalists-- I was at Emerson for 19 years and will soon be starting 
a new job at Lesley.  I've always told my students that whether I 
like a political candidate or not, I will NEVER question him or her 
in a rude or snarky way-- that would disgrace the people who came 
before me.  And in my e-mails to this list, that's why I specified 
that I'd feel the same way about the Obama incident if it happened to 
McCain.  My question was NOT intended to be political.  It WAS 
intended to be about ethics and the state of our industry these 
days.  Is any rumour or any piece of information (no matter how it 
was obtained) suitable for broadcast.

Let's remove it from politics entirely.  I recall very clearly when 
somebody (who shall remain nameless) got their hands on the late 
David Brudnoy's private medical information, which showed he was HIV 
Positive-- this was before that information had been made 
public.  Back then, the general consensus was to NOT put that 
information on the air, even as an anonymous "leak".  Today, somehow 
I think it would be on the news immediately.