Checkbook Journalism Incidents This Holiday Season

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were more than holidays this year. They were big news days as well. Reports of checkbook journalism are currently surrounding the terrorist attempt on Northwest Flight 252 and David Goldman’s emotional reunion with son Sean after a long custody battle in Brazil. It is unfortunate these incidents of checkbook journalism may have been forgotten or brushed over as both stories continue captivating the nation.

NBC is facing criticism after offering Goldman and his son a free flight from Brazil to Orlando Christmas Eve. The news organization says the free flight was not a gift intended for an interview but a gesture given because NBC crews covering the story were already taking the flight back. The Society of Professional Journalists released a statement regarding the issue saying it crossed an ethical line, and once NBC offered the gift and the Goldman’s accepted it, NBC was no longer a third-party to the story. NBC was then involved in the story itself. NBC says it has been covering the Goldman custody battle for over a year now. David has already had a number of interviews with NBC and gave the news organization exclusive rights to the story. NBC reps say the offer was not intended to motivate.

The other big controversy is with the flight photo from Northwest Flight 253 Christmas Day morning that circulated following the event. It has now come out that ABC, the New York Post and CNN all paid passenger Jasper Schuringa for the picture he took on his phone. CNN says it often pays for witness photos especially during breaking news events but says it did not pay Schuringa for his interview.

SPJ says keeping journalist credibility is more than just avoiding conflict, it is also about avoiding the appearance of the conflict. I agree. Even though their intentions might have been kindhearted, NBC took a big risk. To its audience, the situation may look like an extravagant payoff for an exclusive. The CNN and Schuringa case can also be seen as deceiving. Transparency is best for these situations. If CNN is honest about buying the photo during the interview with Schuringa, the audience will be less likely to question if he was paid for the interview. The same goes with NBC. In the end, checkbook journalism challenges the credibility of all American journalism because it can alter the motivation of the person or persons being interviewed.

StinkyJournalism.org also has a good report on these incidents.

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