ONA Issues

As occupations arise from the Occupy Wall Street movement all across the U.S and around the globe, the line between journalist and participant is thinning, surfacing some important issues around objectivity and the role of a journalist during times of protest. Two journalists who have been fired for engaging in Occupy-related protests are Caitlin Curran and Lisa Simeone.
 

photo by Ben Furnas 

Curran, photographed holding a sign at the Occupy Wall Street protests, was fired from her job at The Takeaway, a radio show co-produced by WYNC and PRI International. You can read her full account on Gawker, where she explains her intention to pitch a story to the Takeaway based on her boyfriend participating in the protest (she explains that she took over holding the sign after he got tired).

In an email statement to the Washington Post, The Takeaway explained, “She was expected to be free of any conflict that might compromise the work of the show overall … when Ms. Curran made the decision to participate in the protest and make herself part of the story, she violated our editorial standards.“

In Simeone’s case, after it came to light she was acting as a spokeswoman for the protests, she was fired as host of “Soundprint,” and NPR has announced it will no longer distribute a member-produced show, “The World of Opera,” which she also hosts.

AP reported: “NPR spokeswoman Anna Christopher said the network’s code of ethics applies to cultural programs it distributes, such as ‘World of Opera,’ as well as to news shows it produces, acquires or distributes. ‘We are not her employer, but she is a host for a show that we distribute,’ Christopher said. ‘She’s a public person who represents NPR and public radio.’”

As the Atlantic Wire clarifies, Soundprint, which is neither produced nor distributed by NPR but is carried on NPR affiliates, fired Simeone, not NPR. When Soundprint dismissed her, she was read the NPR code of ethics.

While Soundprint took issue with Simeone’s involvement in the protests, North Carolina’s classical station WDAV, which produces “World of Opera,” had no problems with her activity outside of work.

As reported in the Baltimore Sun, Lisa Gray, a WDAV spokesperson, wrote on the station’s website, “As host of World of Opera, Lisa Simeone is an independent contractor of WDAV Classical Public Radio. Ms. Simeone’s activities outside of this job are not in violation of any of WDAV’s employee codes and have had no effect on her job performance at WDAV. Ms. Simeone remains the host of World of Opera.”

What do you think about these two cases? Should these journalists have been punished for their participation in the protests? In the digital age, is there a difference between say, retweeting protest signs on Twitter and holding a sign live at the rally? What is the role of objectivity in modern journalism? Did their employers overreact?

Please respond in the comments/reblogs or submit your own reaction to ONA Issues here.