Posted on 01/25/2007 5:10:15 AM PST by abb
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The friendship between television news anchor Maria Bartiromo and former Citigroup executive Todd Thomson raises questions about ethical boundaries between reporters and their sources, experts said.
Thomson found himself out of a job recently after spending $5 million of Citigroup's money to sponsor a show hosted in part by CNBC news anchor Bartiromo, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The report said Citigroup executives were also irked by Thomson's flying Bartiromo, called "the Money Honey" by tabloid newspapers, to New York from Beijing, China in a Citigroup corporate jet.
A spokesman for financial news network CNBC said Bartiromo's plane trip had been approved by her managers, and that CNBC paid Citigroup for her flight. He declined to elaborate on further questions regarding Bartiromo and Thomson.
This is not the first time Bartiromo has been at the center of controversy.
In May, she roiled stock and bond markets after discussing in a broadcast a conversation she had with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner. Many reporters understand the dinner to be off the record.
Personal relationships are crucial to reporters who vie to get stories first. But friendships that are too close can raise questions about objectivity, said Bob Steele, senior ethics faculty member at the Poynter Institute, a training and research center for journalists.
"Was there any personal connection with Mr. Thomson that could raise concerns about competing loyalties? It's a reasonable question to ask, and important for her to answer in a meaningful way," Steele said.
Flying on Citigroup's corporate jet could be seen as too close a relationship, even if the network paid for the flight, said Joe Bernt, professor of journalism at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.
AIR FORCE ONE
Experts said one could argue that the plane ride gave Bartiromo access to a powerful figure at Citigroup, much the way White House reporters may have access to the U.S. president by flying on Air Force One.
But the analogy is not perfect, said Deni Elliott, who teaches media ethics at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. More than one reporter typically flies on Air Force One at the same time, and it may be the only time that reporters can get access to a president, Elliott said.
Citigroup's $5 million sponsorship of a Sundance Channel show that Bartiromo was to host with other personalities is also nettlesome if Bartiromo and Thomson are friends, said Pamela Luecke, professor of business journalism at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Bartiromo is no longer scheduled to appear on the Sundance Channel show, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In July 2004, Bartiromo was criticized for interviewing Citigroup chairman Sanford Weill while owning 1,000 shares of the bank's stock. She disclosed her holding at the beginning of the interview. CNBC later barred news staff and managers from owning individual stocks or corporate bonds.
It may be too soon to determine whether Bartiromo did anything wrong, but the key question is whether she accepted any gifts that would even raise questions about her objectivity, Poynter Institute's Steele said.
But, Steele added, "I don't see enough pieces of the puzzle now to say there were ethical problems here."
Ping
Okay, I've got to ask: Was she having an affair with this guy?
It was simply a head to head flight.
This thread is worthless without pics.
I have no clue. But the trip still stinks.
Nah. Thomson was 'counseling' her. /hillary
Benjamin Franklin
Every morning on the radio I hear her tell me what a great place Michigan is to start a business. Clearly not a very honest person.
Innocent!
Changing "Reuters" to "Rooters" is cute but possibly not the best idea.
100% Not Guilty.
I mean, just look at her :)
John Gibson on FNC said it best when he pointed out that a commercial flight would have cost the Money Honey approximately $3900 bucks.
Her executive trip courtesy of her now unemployed air chauffeur from Citigroup cost right around $100,000.
Todd Thomson might think it's worth 100 grand, but NO 'stuff' is EVER worth THAT much money.
Clearly not a very smart person, either. I went to a "Jeopardy" taping here in Washington a couple of years ago where she was one of the "celebrity" contestants, and she was an absolute idiot - didn't get one question right on the few occasions when she even managed to ring in.
You got that right. Michigan seems to be on a jihad against business, Mr. Ayatollah. Socialists in the state greatly outnumber businesses.
Back when Jack Reed was running Citibank, he had an affair with one of the flight attendants on the corporate jet. The joke on Wall Street then was that the following was the landing announcement on the Citicorp jet...
"We are starting our descent. Please return your seats, trays, and stewardessess to the UPRIGHT position.."
I've heard that Fox is trying to hire Maria away from CNBC to head up the planned Fox Business Channel. Someone should let Gibson in on this.
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