Chapter 10: Conflicts of Interest: Divided Loyalties
Overview of Conflicts for Individual Journalists
Louis W. Hodges, “Conflict and the professional setting,” Media Ethics Magazine, Spring 2005,
21-22. The Washington and Lee University professor analyzes the problem of conflict of interest
in journalism. http://www.mediaethicsmagazine.com/index.php/100-analysescommentarypast/959320-conflict-and-the-professional-setting
The New York Times, Ethical Journalism: A Handbook of Values and Practices for the News and
Editorial Departments, September 2004.
http://nytco.com/pdf/NYT_Ethical_Journalism_0904.pdf
Bill Dedman, “Journalists dole cash to politicians (quietly),” msnbc.com, June 25, 2007.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113485/
An Appearance of a Conflict of Interest
Robert Pear, “Drug industry is told to stop gifts to doctors,” The New York Times, Oct. 1, 2002.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E7D81238F932A35753C1A9649C8B63
William Powers, “Who are we?”, nationaljournal.com, July 6, 2007. (Academic databases)
Charles W. Bailey, Conflicts of Interest: A Matter of Journalistic Ethics (Washington, D.C.:
National News Council, 1984), 6.
John J. Hulteng, Playing It Straight (Washington, D.C.: American Society of Newspaper Editors,
1981), 25.
Kelly McBride, “Searching for the Threshold: Can gay and lesbian journalists cover same-sex
marriages?”, poynteronline, June 16, 2008.
http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/soin/liveIssues/NLGJAgayjournalists.html
Problem Areas for Conflicts
Freebies:
Gary Tuma, Covering the Capitol: A century of news reporting in Pennsylvania, centennial history
of Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association, 1895-1995 (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania
Legislative Correspondents’ Association, 1996), 28-30.
Marie Hardin, “Boosterism and freebies are still problems for newspaper sports
departments,” Newspaper Research Journal, Winter 2005. (Academic databases)
J. D. Lasica, “The cost of ethics: Influence peddling in the blogosphere,” Online
Journalism Review, Feb. 17, 2005. What are the rules when commercial entities offer
payments or freebies to get bloggers to write about them?
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050217lasica/
Julia Moskin, “Time columnist who wrote about his wedding says food and venue were
free,” Diner’s Journal blog for The New York Times, June 23, 2010.
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/time-columnist-who-wrote-about-hiswedding-says-food-and-venue-were-free/
Patrick Gavin, “Journos’ favorite junket,” Politico, July 1, 2010. The Distilled Spirits
Council of the United States, takes journalists to such locales as France, Mexico and
Scotland to taste fine liquor.
http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1007/journos_favorite_junket.html
Secondary income:
David Folkenflik, “Herald publisher quits, reporters reinstated,” National Public Radio, March 11,
2008. This is about the case of the El Nuevo Herald reporters who received pay for work for
Radio Marti. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6189886
Joe Flint, “News anchors’ cameo roles could dent their credibility,” The Wall Street
Journal, Feb. 2, 2005. Portraying a journalist in television dramas could come at a cost.
(News databases)
Paul Farhi, “Research firm offers cash for journalists’ opinions on oil, gas industries,”
The Washington Post, Dec. 16, 2010. A New York research firm offered a $250
“honorarium” for answering questions that could help the firm shape an advertising
campaign. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/12/16/AR2010121606215_pf.html
Arthur S. Brisbane, “Public Editor’s Journal: Times curbs Pogue’s P.R. appearances,”
The New York Times, July 6, 2011. After tech columnist David Pogue spoke before the
Media Relations Summit, a public relations conference, a video of his speech was
marketed. That led The Times to prohibit Pogue, a freelancer, from any speeches in which
he advises “individuals or organizations how to deal successfully with the news media.”
http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/times-curbs-pogues-pr-appearances/
Felix Salmon, “When journalists take money from Wall Street,” Columbia Journalism
Review, March 20, 2012. The writer explores the standards of various news organizations
on whether journalists can accept speaking fees.
http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/when_journalists_take_money_fr.php
Sylvia Stead, “Public Editor: Journalism, commercial interests should be kept separate,”
The Globe and Mail, Sept. 27, 2012. The Toronto paper’s real estate section published an
article in which a freelance columnist described her “charming red brick Victorian row
house,” which was up for sale. Stead quoted Globe editors as saying the paper “shouldn’t
run articles about the sale of an employee or freelancer’s house whether that article is
written by that person or anyone else.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/community/inside-the-globe/public-editor-journalismcommercial-interests-should-be-kept-separate/article4571802/
Stead’s column contains a link to the article describing the house.
Jim Romenesko, “Reporter does consulting work for school district while covering it,”
July 13, 2012. The Alexandria (Va.) Times reported that Alexandria News co-founder and
education reporter Carla Branch was covering the Alexandria City Public Schools while
the school district paid her $75 an hour as a communications consultant. Branch said in
an e-mail to Romenesko: “Had I believed it was a conflict, I would not have bid on the
contract nor would I have openly discussed it with hundreds of people over the past six
months. … The folks at the Alexandria Times were among the last to know.”
http://jimromenesko.com/2012/07/12/reporter-does-consulting-work-for-school-districtwhile-covering-it/
Armstrong Williams case:
Greg Toppo, “Education Dept. paid commentator to promote law,” USA Today, Jan. 6, 2005.
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-06-williams-whitehouse_x.htm.
Howard Kurtz, “Writer backing Bush plan had gotten federal contract,” The Washington Post, Jan.
26, 2005.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36545-2005Jan25.html.
Howart Kurtz, “Bush urges end to contracts with commentators,” The Washington Post, Jan. 27,
2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39872-2005Jan26.html.
Jim Drinkard and Mark Memmott, “HHS said it paid columnist for help,” USA Today, Jan. 27,
2005. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-27-hhs_x.htm.
Greg Toppo, “Commentator says he may return fees,” USA Today, Oct. 7, 2005.
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-10-03-williams-fees_x.htm.
GregToppo, “Pundit Armstrong Williams settles case over promoting education reforms,” USA
Today, Oct. 22, 2006.
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-20-williams_x.htm.
Taking a Public Position on Issues in the News
Paul Duke, “E-mail undoing,” American Journalism Review, September 2002. Should a Florida
editor have lost her job after sending a reader a politically charged note?
www.ajr.org/article_printable.asp?id=2599
“Seattle Times editor elaborates on newsroom cheering memo,” Romenesko Misc., Aug. 15,
2007. http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/84040/seattle-times-editor-elaborates-onnewsroom-cheering-memo/
Bob Steele, “A Pledge of Allegiance for journalists,” poynteronline, Sept. 20, 2001.
Should news organizations display their spirit of patriotism during these extraordinarily
difficult times. Should journalists wear their support of their country on their sleeves?
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=5897
Kathryn S. Wenner, “Conflicts of interest: San Francisco Chronicle tech columnist Henry
Norr is fired after he participates in an anti-war rally,” American Journalism Review,
May 2003. http://www.ajr.org/article_printable.asp?id=3004

Bob Steele, “When opposition becomes participation,” poynteronline, Feb. 21, 2003.
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=36&aid=21425
Howard Kurtz, “Post critic Page apologizes for e-mail remarks to Barry aide,” The
Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2007. Tim Page, a music critic, sent an intemperate message
to the mayor’s office after receiving an unsolicited press release.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201906.html
Clark Hoyt, “Keeping their opinions to themselves,” The New York Times, Oct. 19, 2008.
The public editor analyzes reader allegations of bias in political coverage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/opinion/19pubed.html
Brian Stelter, “Newsman to speak at events of group opposed to health care plan,” The
New York Times, October 28, 2009. John Stossel, who hosts a weekly program on Fox
Business Network, delivered speeches in three Arkansas cities for the Americans for
Prosperity. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/business/media/28fox.html?_r=1
Edward Schumacher-Matos, “Reporter-columnists tread fine line with readers’ trust,”
The Miami Herald, April 25, 2010. The newspaper’s ombudsman questions whether
reporters who write news stories should also write columns in which they express their
opinions about the events and people they cover.
http://newsombudsmen.org/columns/reporter-columnists-tread-fine-line-with-readerstrust
Kevin Woster, “KOTA anchorman temporarily sidelined after tea party appearance,”
Rapid City Journal, April 27, 2010. The South Dakota television journalist was taken off
the air after a speech at a Citizens for Liberty tax day rally.
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_a0740daa-5237-11df-afea001cc4c03286.html
Dylan Byers, “Chalian and the new industry standard,” Politico, Aug. 29, 2012. David
Chalian, Yahoo News’ political news director, was fired “hours after video surfaced on
the Internet in which he was heard saying that Mitt Romney and his wife Ann were
‘happy to have a party with black people drowning’ – a reference to the GOP convention
and Hurricane Isaac.” Chalian acknowledged that his “hot mike” remark was
“inappropriate and thoughtless.” In reporting Yahoo’s action, Byers wrote: “[T]he
decision was in keeping with the fearful, risk-averse attitude that many media
organizations have shown over recent years when faced with controversy.”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/08/chalian-and-the-new-industry-standarad133765.html
Dave Levinthal and Tarini Parti, “Journalists open wallets for Obama and Romney,”
Politico, Nov. 3, 2012. Journalists whose names appeared in public records were
interviewed about their contributions.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83250.html
Slate, “Slate votes: Obama wins our staff,” Nov. 5, 2012. Of 37 staffers who responded to
the web magazine’s invitation to say whom they were voting for and why, 31 said they
were voting for Obama. This is the third consecutive presidential election in which
Slate’s staff members have made the disclosures. Editor David Plotz said: “I don’t think
Obama's Slate victory reflects a bias that has corrupted the magazine during the
campaign. There are obvious reasons why Slate would lean heavily toward Obama.
Slate’s voters tend to skew young and all polls show younger voters favoring the
Democrat. And we are journalists.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/11/slate_votes_2012_why
_we_chose_obama_over_romney_stein_and_johnson.single.html
Robert J. Vickers, “Why I’m voting for Mitt Romney,” The Patriot-News, Nov. 2, 2012.
The Harrisburg, Pa., newspaper’s political writer reveals his choice for president and
comments: “Though I’ve never publicly shared my choice before, I’m doing so now as a
catharsis of how I came to my decision, not to influence anyone else.”
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/11/robert_vickers_why_im_voting_for
_mitt_romney.html#incart_m-rpt-2
 Andrew Beaujon, “Patriot-News M.E. says column about Romney vote was ‘a hard
sell’,” poynteronline, Nov. 2, 2012. The editor, Mike Feeley, said the initial response
was no, but “[e]ventually we supported his decision. We demand transparency on
how public officials do their job and spend taxpayer money. And I like the idea of
reflecting that same kind of transparency … .” Vickers is quoted in this article as
saying that “the journalistic/political landscape has changed.”
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/194116/patriot-news-m-e-sayscolumn-about-romney-vote-was-a-hard-sell/
Linda Greenhouse speech at Harvard:
David Folkenflik, “Critics question reporter’s airing of personal views,” National Public Radio,
Sept. 26, 2006. A report on Linda Greenhouse’s comments in a speech at Harvard.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6146693
Byron Calame, “Hazarding personal opinions in public can be hazardous for journalists,” The New
York Times, Oct. 8, 2006. www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/opinion/08pubed.html
Postings on social media:
Stephanie Gleason, “Going public: Should journalists express their political views on
social networking sites?”, American Journalism Review, December/January 2010. The
author surveys opinion on the question, noting that journalists have traditionally avoided
taking public positions on the news. The author frames the debate with another question:
“[D]oes that uncompromising stance make any sense in the freewheeling digital age,
marked as it is by the impassioned political debate of the blogosphere and an almost
religious commitment to transparency?” http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4846
John Morton, “Staying Neutral: Journalists should not reveal their political views, Twitter
or no Twitter, American Journalism Review, December-January 2010.
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4837
Jim Romenesko, “AP warns staff about expressing opinions on social networks,”
poynteronline, July 27, 2011; updated July 28, 2011. Tom Kent, AP’s deputy managing
editor for standards and production, wrote in a staff memo: “Associated Press journalists
have tweeted opinions about the Casey Anthony trial and the New York Senate vote on
gay marriage.” Kent said the posts undermined the credibility of the AP staff and “AP
staffers should not make postings … that amount to personal opinions on contentious
public issues.”
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/138288/ap-warns-staff-about-expressingopinions-on-social-networks/
 Steve Myers, “AP updates social media guidelines a week after warning staff about
expressing opinions,” poynteronline, July 13, 2011.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/139117/ap-updates-social-mediaguidelines-a-week-after-warning-staffers-about-expressing-opinions/
Jim Romenesko, “Reporter resigns after posting Chick-fil-A rant on Facebook,” Aug. 2,
2012. The paper’s executive editor said his posting was “inappropriate” and “hurts our
credibility.” http://jimromenesko.com/2012/08/13/reporter-resigns-after-posting-chickfil-a-rant-on-facebook/
Radio Television Digital News Association, “Social media and blogging guidelines,”
Oct. 22, 2012. http://www.rtnda.org/article/social_media_blogging_guidelines
Jeff Sonderman, “Some news orgs’ social media policies are on shaky legal ground,”
poynteronline, Jan. 22, 2013. Reviews decisions by the National Labor Relations Board
in cases in which employees lost their jobs because of social-media activities.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/201320/some-news-orgs-social-mediapolicies-are-on-shaky-legal-ground/
Nisha Chittal, “Journalists share arguments for, against using same-sex marriage symbols
on social media profiles,” poynteronline, March 27, 2013. Some journalists joined the
social-media initiative urging Facebook users to change their profile pictures to a red
“equal” sign to show their support for marriage equality. The writer explores the question
of whether this compromises the journalists’ neutrality. http://www.poynter.org/latestnews/top-stories/208523/journalists-share-arguments-for-against-using-same-sexmarriage-symbols-on-their-social-media-profiles/
Civic Activities
David Folkenflik, “Citizen Jayne: Baltimore’s best TV journalist believes she can balance her onair reporting and her off-camera activism. But should she?” The Sun, Feb. 25, 2001. (news
databases)
Greg Braxton, “TV reporter Lu Parker plays by her own set of rules,” Los Angeles
Times, Oct. 21, 2010. “The KTLA reporter is dating L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,
advocating for causes and promoting herself in ways that critics say is a problem for her
professional reputation. Parker says media standards have to change with the times.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/21/entertainment/la-et-lu-parker-20101022
Relationships With Sources
Phil Sheridan, “Baseball writers wrong to exercise their right to vote,” The Philadelphia Inquirer,
Oct. 8, 2005. Discusses the Baseball Writers of America’s longtime involvement with baseball’s
Hall of Fame. (News databases)
The Associated Press, “AP made call with poll’s integrity in mind,” espn.com, Dec. 21, 2004. AP
refuses to allow BCS to use its poll in compiling college football bowl rankings.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1951112
Max Frankel, The Times of My Life and My Life With The Times (New York: Random House,
1999). Frankel discusses the question of critics’ and sportswriters’ voting on awards for the
people they cover, 515-516.
Howard Kurtz, “Journalists say their White House advice crossed no line,” The
Washington Post, Jan. 29, 2005. Two conservative commentators privately offered advice
to aides of President George W. Bush; they said it was perfectly proper conduct for
commentators. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46077-2005Jan28.html
Roni Caryn Rabin, “Conflicts of interest may ensnare journalists, too,” The New York
Times, Nov. 22, 2008. By accepting industry-sponsored awards and relying on corporate
public relations offices, health reporters may become entangled in the same kind of
ethical conflicts they often expose.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/health/22journalists.html?ref=health
Kate Zernike, “Between journalist and advocate: The Amanda Knox case,” The New York
Times, Oct. 7, 2011. This article was written after an Italian court freed Amanda Knox, an
American exchange student who had been convicted of killing her roommate. Zernike
writes that journalist Nina Burleigh gave numerous television interviews after the court’s
decision in which she vehemently defended Knox. According to Zernike, “Ms. Burleigh
sseemed at times to move from journalist to advocate, treading what she knew, as a
longtime reporter and author, was a dangerous line.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/fashion/between-journalist-and-advocate-theamanda-knox-case.html?pagewanted=all
Case Study No. 5: Covering Police, Wearing Their Uniform
Joe Kimball, “Working as a cop, she’ll keep a Lowe profile,” The Star Tribune, July 18, 2003.
(News databases)
Brian Lambert, “Reporter-turned-copy walks thin blue line,” The Pioneer Press, July 22, 2003.
(News databases)
Lambert, “Reporter conflict is in the eye of the beholder,” The Pioneer Press, July 25, 2003.
(News databases)
Case Study No. 6: Carrying the Torch, Stirring Controversy
Lee Benson, “Torch run just isn’t conflicting,” Deseret News, Jan. 9, 2002. (News databases)
Case Study No. 8: A Love Triangle on the Evening News
Duke Helfand and Steve Hymon, “Mayor reveals romantic link with TV newscaster,” Los Angeles
Times, July 4, 2007. (News databases)
Duke Helfand and Meg James, “Telemundo reassigns mayor’s girlfriend,” Los Angeles Times,
Sept. 25, 2007. (News databases)
Shawn Hubler, “The mayor and his mistress,” Los Angeles Magazine, May 2008. [News
databases]
Additional Case Studies
Mideast reporter’s Facebook comments: Margaret Sullivan, “Problems with a reporter’s
Facebook posts, and a possible solution,” Public Editor’s Journal in The New York Times,
Nov. 28, 2012. Jodi Rudoren, the new Jerusalem bureau chief for The Times, posted
Facebook comments about her beat that critics seized on as evidence of bias. This
prompted the paper to assign an editor on the foreign desk to work closely with her on
her social media posts. Sullivan wrote, “The idea is to capitalize on the promise of social
media engagement with readers while not exposing The Times to a reporter’s unfiltered
and unedited thoughts.” http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/problemswith-a-reporters-facebook-posts-and-a-possible-solution/
 Joe Coscarelli, “New York Times Israel reporter assigned social media babysitter,”
New York Magazine Online, Nov. 28, 2012. “[T]he larger issue at play is the Times’
commitment to the spirit of objectivity, a charade that gets harder to keep up as
reporters are allowed – and encouraged! – to sound off on various platforms
constantly, interact with readers, and work out ideas in public forums.”
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/jodi-rudoren-times-reporter-assigned-facebookeditor.html
 Glenn Greenwald, “Times bureau chief in Jerusalem will now have her Facebook
entries edited,” The Guardian, Nov. 28, 2012. “The reality is that all human beings –
even including journalists – see the world through a subjective prism, and it is
impossible to completely divorce one’s assumptions and biases and cultural and
political beliefs from one’s observations and ‘reporting.’ Having a window into what
Sullivan calls ‘the unfiltered and unedited thoughts of journalists’ is of crucial value
in knowing that these biases exist and in knowing what they are – which is precisely
why the New York Times acted so quickly to slam that window shut.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/28/israel-gaza-nyt-rudorentwitter
A son’s decision: The 20-year-old son of Ethan Bronner, chief of The New York Times’
Jerusalem bureau, enlisted in the Israeli military. Bronner’s critics portrayed this as a
conflict of interest for the reporter and called for The Times to reassign him. Executive
editor Bill Keller declined to do so, although the paper’s public editor, Clark Hoyt,
thought Bronner should have been reassigned to avoid the appearance of conflict. [See
separate file in this folder.]
NPR fires Juan Williams: The senior news analyst lost his NPR job in October 2010 over
a comment he made about Muslims on Fox News, which NPR said violated NPR’s ethics
policies. Fox News responded by expanding Williams’ role on its network and giving
him a multiyear contract.
 David Folkenflik, “NPR dismisses news analyst Juan Williams,” Oct. 21, 2010.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130732174
 “NPR fires Juan Williams; Fox News expands his role,” Fox News, Oct. 21, 2010
(includes video).
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/21/npr-fires-juan-williams-oreillyappearance/
 “NPR’s firing of Juan Williams was poorly handled,” NPR ombudsman’s column,
Oct. 21, 2010. http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2010/10/21/130713285/nprterminates-contract-with-juan-williams
 Rem Reider, “Moving too fast: NPR’s mishandling of the Juan Williams imbroglio,”
American Journalism Review, September 2010. http://ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4957
 Leonard Pitts Jr., “Firing scandal: National Public Radio’s mistaken rush to
judgment,” The Miami Herald, Oct. 27, 2010. (News databases)
Endorsements by ESPN personalities: The cable network’s sideline reporter Erin
Andrews endorsed Reebok shoes on Jan. 4, 2011, two weeks after delivering an oncamera criticism of a competitor’s shoes during the Rose Bowl game. In February, ESPN
arranged with the Poynter Institute to scrutinize its content and practices, and in April, the
network announced new endorsement guidelines. The Poynter ombudsman team declared
the guidelines to be too flexible.
 Allan Brettman, “ESPN's Erin Andrews endorses Reebok shoe, two weeks after her
damaging report on Nike football shoe,” The Oregonian, Jan. 25, 2011, updated Jan.
27, 2011.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/playbooksandprofits/2011/01/espn_reporter_erin_andrews
_end.html
 Richard Sandomir, “Several ESPN broadcasters have had shoe contracts,” The New
York Times, Feb. 14, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/sports/15espn.html
 Kelly McBride, “Straight to the point,” Poynter Review Project, March 23, 2011.
http://m.espn.go.com/wireless/story?storyId=6248772
 Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president/production, announces the
company’s new endorsement guidelines, April 13, 2011, with link to full text.
http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2011/04/endorsement-policy/
 Kelly McBride and Regina Combs, “So close, yet so far/ESPN moved the ball with
its new endorsement guidelines, but ultimately came up short,” Poynter Review
Project, April 20, 2011.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=6399130
MSNBC suspends Keith Olbermann: The Countdown anchor was suspended for two days
in November 2010 after the network became aware of contributions he made to two
Arizona members of congress and an unsuccessful Senate candidate in Kentucky.
 Simmi Aujila, “Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats,” Politico, Nov. 5,
2010. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44734.html
 David Carr, “Olbermann, impartiality and MSNBC,” The New York Times, Nov. 7,
2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/business/media/08carr.html
 Keith Olbermann, “A statement to the viewers of Countdown,” Nov. 9, 2010.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/41623358/A-Statement-to-the-Viewers-of-Countdown
 Michael Kinsley, “The absurdity of Olbermann’s sin,” Politico, Nov. 9, 2010.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44855.html
Helen Thomas retires after anti-Israel remarks: The 89-year-old Hearst Newspapers
columnist stepped down after making remarks in May 2010 that Israeli Jews should “get
the hell out of Palestine and return to Germany or Poland “or wherever they came from.”
 Judith Miller, “Why are we tolerating Helen Thomas’ journalistic hypocrisy?”,
FoxNews.com, June 7, 2010.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/06/07/judith-miller-helen-thomas-gazamiddle-east-israel-pat-buchanan-hamas/
 Sam Youngman and Emily Goodin, “Helen Thomas quits after Israel remarks,” The
Hill.com, June 7, 2010.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/101731-helen-thomas-announcesretirement
 Robert Sheer, “On the vilification of Helen Thomas, The Huffington Post, June 9,
2010. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/on-the-vilification-ofhe_b_605573.html