UlediaBy F,ob Wiley

DOUBLE TXPOSURECornmunity Involvement: Do Dangiers Lurk In The BoardRoom For Those Who Rule In The Ne'wsroom?

aaF

Fo

Journalists must auoid imProfriety andthe afpearance of imProPriety as well as

any conflict of interest or the appearance

of conflict. They shotr.ld neither accept

anything nor fursuo any actiuily thalmight compromise or seem to compromise

thair integritl,From the American SocietY of

Newspaper Editors' Staternent of

Principies, adopted October 23, 197 5.

Ir rs oNp oF THB MoRE DIFFICULT

ethical dilemmas that a journalist faces:

how involved should he be in the com-

munity he reports on? Should he protect

his objectivity and take a strictly hands-

off approach, shunning ali personal par-

ticipation in community activities and

organizations? Or can he, like any otherprivate citizen, take an active role in

those groups and projects that he be-

lieves in as long as that participationdoesn't interfere with his responsibili-ties as a journalist? Where does he drawthe line? How much is too much?

Those of us who lvork in this businesstend to think a lot about such questions,

discovering in the process that there are

ferv easy answers to them. The tradi-tional argument is that, for the sake oftheir credibility, journalists should be'have like "men from Mars," function'ing as mere observers of the passingparade and not participants in it. Somejournalists today, however, maintainthat such an approach is unrealistic and

impractical. Their argument is thatjournalists-and the organizations theyrepresent-are a part of the larger com-

munity and that they have a responsibil'ity to become involved. What's more,proponents of this approach say that be-

coming actively involved in the commu-nity is often the best way to find outwhat's actually going on in the commu-

nity. Again, there are no easy answers.This problem becomes particularly

acute for media decision makers-edi-tors, news directors, and the like, These

are the individuals who are directly re'sponsible for deciding what gets cov-

ered and how in both the Print and

broadcast tnedia. They are also the jour-

nalists u'ho often get thc nlost requeststo serve on communitY boards, helP

with charitable drives, and throw the

weight of their organizations behindcivic projects. For these media man-

agers, wall<ing the thin linc between be-

ing both a participant and an observer,between doing "good deeds" in the

community while also avoiding charges

of possible conflicts of intcrest, is many

times a very tricky acl indeed. Again, no

easy ans\\rers.

Scconrlaty on!kt1'ment, folitical itr'uoluetnent, holdirtg puhlic office, and ser'

ttice in ccttnmuni.ll' organizatirtns shottldhe auoirled iJ'il comfrotises the inlegrityof jounruLists and their empblers. Jour'ttalists and their entplol'ers should cottdttct

tlrcir lsersonal liues in a manner whichprolecls them from conl"lict ol interesl, real

f)avid IVayne Broltt, executive editor of 'lhe Commercial Appeal: "Myrlcfinition of editor inclu<Ies bein$ active in lhe conrlnurrily' . . . ['I'hatl

rvorks for me."

Memfiltis 43

,0r a\ParenL Their responsibilities to the

lublic are Paramount. That is the naturetheir lrofession.

From the Society of ProfessionalJournalists, Sigma Delta Chi, Code of

Ethics, adopted 1973.

, DAvrD WAYNE Bnowu coMMANDS

the most formidable news gathering or-ganization in Memphis, an organizationwhose influence extends for a hundred-mile radius around Memphis. The Com'mercial Appeal, with about 210 editorialemployees, in manY waYs sets theagenda for public discussion in thistown, simply by virtue of what does ordoes not get printed within its pages.

The CA has been the only mass'circula-tion daily newspaper in Memphis since

its sister Scripps Howard publication,the Press-Scimitar, closed its doors in

1983. The newspaper can trace its his-

tory back to pre-Civil War daYs, and

thus is one of the oldest institutions ofany kind in the citY.

David Brown joined The CommercialAPpeal in 1984 as executive editor.Since then he has been highly visible as

Some journalistsbehave like "men from

Marsr" with littleinvolvement in

community affairs.

an active participant in a wide range of

community service projects and organi-zations. Such involvement was no acci-

dent."Before I came here, " Brown says, "I

discussed with my boss the ramifica-tions of heavy involvement in the com-

munity. He agreed with my observationthat, being the chief editor of this news-

paper, I should get involved in this com-

munity. Because it's the only newspa-per here, it's a newsPaPer with a richheritage, it's a newspaper that I feltwhen I came to town was Perceived bY

many people here to be aloof and apartfrom the city. And I wanted to do some'

thing about all that. .And I had a practi-

cal reason to get involved, too, and thatwas [that] I didn't know MemPhis. Ithink the only way to really know Mem-phis is to get down below the surface,get involved, and meet PeoPle."

Brown has had plenty of opportunityto meet people through his work withcommunity groups. For example, he is a

member of the board of directors of theChamber of Commerce, United WaY,

Dixon Gallery and Gardens and Mem'phis Partners, Inc. He is also a memberof the executive board of the Chickasaw

Council of the Boy Scouts of America,

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the Board of Governors of the Mem-phis-Plough Community Foundation,the Orchestral Society Board, and (helocal board of the National Conferenceof Christians and Jews. Other activitiesinclude being a member of FutureMemphis, a member and co-founder ofthe Memphis Literacy Task Force, andseveral other memberships.

In the past, involvement in such ac-

tivities was generally left to a newspa-per's publisher. But Scripps Howardnewspapers don't have a local publisheras such. The Commercial Appeal, for ex-ample, has Brown as its chief editorialmanager and general manager JosephR. Williams as its chief business man-ager; the two are considered co-equalsin certain areas. Besides, Brown scoffsat the so-called traditional roles of theeditor versus the publisher,

"There's no one definition ofpublisher, nor one definition of editor,that works in every city or for every ma-jor newspaper," he says. "I think thereare people rvithin the industry and out-side the industry who want to shackleeditors by saying, just be an observer,just sit up on your high throne and issuedaily plaudits or condemnations ofwhat's going on and pretend that youknorv what's going on even thoughyou're not involved in anything. I thinkthat's ridiculous. But I hasten to addthat it would be easy to lose one's objec-tivity or to become involved in conflicts,if you go into it half blind or not knowingwhat the potential traps are."

Brown avoids some traps by only sit-ting on boards for non-profit organiza-tions and by not getting involved in any'thing political, Still, being involved innumerous community activities some-times leads to situations where Brown ispriwy to information that could benewsworthy. How does he handle it?

"If I learn something off the record ina board meeting, I don't share it withanyone," Brown says. "If I learn some-thing any other way, I usually do share itand get my staff working on it. I tell peo'ple that I won't betray such confi'dences, but that they have to realize thatI have some real good reporters and itisn't going to stay quiet for long."

One highly visible position Brownheld recently was the 1986 chairman'ship of the local United Way fund-rais'ing campaign. He says that was a goodexample of his staff 's professionalism inthat CA reporters didn't hesitate towrite the good, the bad, and the ugly.

"When I was chairman of the UnitedWay campaign I made a point of tellingseveral of my editors that United Waywas open season," Brown says. "Theytook me at my word and covered it quitewell. There were some negative storiesas well as positive stories, and that's ex-

actly what I wanted. I was not involvedin any decision making about the cov-erage because I didn't want to be since Iwas chairman."

Still, some C.4 staffers were aP'parently very uneasy about Brown'srole in the United Way campaign. It'snot something they would do, and theydidn't enjoy seeing their boss out theredoing it either.

"I have a problem with that, but ob'viously he [Brown] doesn't," says one

reporter at the newspaper, who askedthat his name not be used. "I'm not say'ing United Way doesn't do a lot of good,

but I think the ways [journalists] can

bring about change is the way we writearticies or the way we bring somethingto light when there's a probiem, ratherthan being involved in an active role."Other C,4 staffers interviewed for thisstory voiced similar concerns.

Yet, the example of David Brownaside, The Commercial Appeal itself is

very deeply invoived in various pro-grams and projects throughout the city.These include such things as the Cyn-

"Journalists have tobe part of the

commur1.ity," saysChannel S's Ray

Pohlmarl ((...to seewhat's $oin$ on..."

thia Milk Fund, Mile-O-Dimes, Best ofthe Preps, Mid-South Junior FishingRodeo, Adopt'A-School, MemPhisSymphony Pops Concert, and NewsPa-pers in the Classroom. Some of these ac'tivities are traditions in the area-theFishing Rodeo has been around since1950, for example, and the Best of thePreps celebrates its 19th year in 1988'

Another project in which the newspa-per is involved is Neighborhood Watch,once considered City Councilman BillGibbons' "baby." 'fhe CA provides of-fice space for the project on the fifthfloor of its building at 495 Union andprovides some funding, along with a fewin-kind services such as postage. The

Commercial APPeal gave Gibbons an

early and strong editorial endorsementin his unsuccessful race for mayor lastfall. But by then, says David Brown,Gibbons had dropped his active supportfor Neighborhood Watch. Still, somepeople wondered if there couid havebeen a connection between the newspa'per's endorsement of Gibbons and itssupport of Neighborhood Watch. "Ab-solutely not, " says Brown.'In the final analysis, then, Brown says

the whole issue comes down to definingjust what the role of a newspaper-and

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its editor-should be. "My definition oleditor includes being active in the com-munity," he says, "ihere are other'edi-tors who would not subscribe to thatway of looking at the world, but it worksfor nre. "

For the record, the situation is some-what different at another local publica-tion, namely, Memphis magazine.There, for a number of reasons (some ofthem purely coincidental), the publisherand the editor play more traditionalroles. "I don't belong to anything," saysthe magazine's editor, Larry Conley,"except groups like the YMCA and thepublic library. That's partly just a mat-ter of personai preference; I've neverbeen much of a joiner. But I also want toavoid a situation where somebodymight think that we covered somethingin the magazine, or covered a story in acertain way, simply because I was per'sonally involved in that activity or thatorganization. I think that's the best wayto approach my job as an editor. Not theonly way, certainly, but still the bestway."

Memfhis magazine's publisher, how'ever, is involved in a number of commu-nity activities. Kenneth Neill became

the magazine's pubiisher in 1986 afterserving as the publication's editor for51/z years, "I never was on a board oranything when I was editor because Iwas in an actual news decision'makingposition," Neill says. "I believe there'sa thin line for somebody who's in a posi'tion of some authority in a news mediaorganization-where does their privatelife stop and their public life start?"

Neill is on the board of directors forWEVL, a public radio station, and BigBrothers and Big Sisters of Memphis,Inc. Both of these organizations are ofpersonal interest to Neill, but he stillfeels the tug of the traditional journalist."l don't feel 100 percent comfortable be'ing on boards," he says. "If I began tosmell some kind of news story on one ofthe boards, I think it wouid be my obli-gation as a media person to get out ofthe situation as soon as possible. It's areal thorny question and I think it pointsout the problem that exists with mem-bers of the media being on boards. "

JeceuB MlNNorrn DIREcrs rHEnews department at WHBQ-TV (Chan'nel 13) which brings up the rear in theratings among the three local networkaffiliate news programs. His station hastaken steps to try and improve that sitq'ation, however, steps such as hiringpopular anchorman Jerry Tate andpairing him with Claudia Barr. Tate ison the board of directors for JuniorCrime Stoppers, an organization similarto Crime Stoppers of Memphis. Min-

notte, though, avoids involvement incommunity groups himself.

"I have a philosophical problem withthat," he says. "I believe that ourjob isto report and if one of the boards or one

of the organizations should be involvedin something questionable, I want toknow we can report on it without anY

appearance of conflict of interest."That puts Minnotte squarely with the

traditionalists, although his station has

been involved periodically in variouscommunity activities. For example,Channel 13 has helped sponsor a healthscreening program in conjunction withEastwood Hospital, with the news de-partment producing several stories on

the project. That kind of involvementcan be justified, according to Minnotte,because the news department alreadyhas a regular health beat, and health-re-lated topics-such as a project to do

biood screening tests-are legitimatenews stories. And though he avoids in-volvement in groups like Junior CrimeStoppers himself, he has no Problemwith Jerry Tate's participation in the or-ganization-but for a very good reason'

"I'm not involved in that board," he

says, "and I can make the decisions. Ifwe find there's a problem there, Tatewill not be involved in coverage deci-

sions. "Over at Channel 3, meanwhile, news

director Ray Pohlman bills himself as a

hidebound traditionalist on the issue ofcommunity involvement, but he ac-

tually comes across sounding more likea middle-of-the'roader, Pohiman in-

sists, for example, that his reportersadhere to a strict standard of objectiv-ity, and let the chips fali where theymay. "If a story has to be reported," he

says, "it has to be reported-period."Yet, Pohlman also believes that theelectronic media should be involved incommunity affairs, both because of tra-dition and Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC)rules.

"I'm not speaking specifically of thenews product," Pohlman says. "But mygeneral feeling and the general feelingof the station is that television is an inte-gral part of the community in which welive. In fact, in years past, before theFCC rules were relaxed somewhat, our

[broadcast] license depended on a cer-

tain amount of public service announce'ments and programming. And sincenews is the only locally produced pro-gram in television anymore, newscastsare used more and more to Promote ormarket particular projects."

The news department at Channel 3

has helped promote a colorectal cancerscreening test in conjunction withMethodist Hospital as well as the an'nual News 3 Health Fair; both projectsreceived air time during the station's

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news programs. Pohlman himsseryes on the Crisis Center board t

directors, and the Mayor's Task Forcton Drunk Driving; he is also involvedwith Grace House, a halfway house forfemale substance abusers. He is sched'uled to begin duties with the board ofdirectors of Goals for Memphis in Janu-ary, Pohlman had been on the board ofthe local Red Cross chapter until he re'signed, partly, he says, to avoid any ap-pearance of conflict of interest.

"Time was a big consideration, andI'm not going to say my resignation was

all for a noble cause," Pohlman saYs.

"But there were touchY things beingdiscussed, such as fund raising, and

that's something I can't be involvedwith just for the appearance of it. I tellevery group that asks me that I can't getinvolved in that sort of thing"'

Slill, Pohlman says that part of cov-ering the news means living in the com'munity, not above it. "Journalists haveto be part of the communitY," he saYs.

"The fence will always be there, but atthe same time, it's good to crawl overthat fence and see what's going on once

in a while."Mason Granger, who heads Channel

5's number one'rated news department,declined to comment on his involvementor his station's involvement in commu-nity affairs projects. "What we do ispretty much public record," Grangersays, "and what we have on the airspeaks for itself. And as far as my per'sonal situation'is concerned, I have nodesire to talk about that or to be self'aggrandizing in any way about what Ipersonally do."

Channel 5 has been involved in a

range of community activities, includ-ing health screenings through varioushospitals, job fairs, sports exhibitions,small business seminars, and MemphisIn May events. One of the station's la-

test ventures is its Homework Hotline,done in conjunction with the MemphisCity Schools. All of these projects havebeen covered as part of the station'snews programs.

So the questions linger-should thosewho report the news helP make thenews as well? More imPortantlY, howfar should media decision makers go in

committing themselves and their or-ganizations to supporting or promotingcommunity projects? As we have seen,

local media managers have varying opi'nions on this subject' They may not allbe "men from Mars," but neither are

they Establishment lackeys who turn a

blind eye to problems in the community.Rather, in the end, most media decisionmakers here seem to try to walk a thinline somewhere between those two ex'treme positions-all along hoping thatthey don't take a wrong steP. I