Is foundation-funded journalism free of ethical landmines?
Absolutely not, writes Bilbo Poynter, executive director of the charitable Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting. But with a clearly defined editorial process, ethical advisory boards and the drafting of “firewall statements,” he hopes to ensure editorial integrity. When I read Stephen J. A. Ward’s recent column,”Journalism in the entrepreneurial age” (Sept. 15, 2009) about the serious ethical considerations for the practitioners of not-for-profit and pay-for journalism when raising funds I immediately wanted to reply. The questions he poses are ones I’ve been wrestling and reconciling with for the last two years as the executive director of the fledgling and newly charitable Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting (CCIR). I didn’t reply right away however. Instead I took it as an opportunity to return to what for me has become a forever problem: How do we (the CCIR) ensure that we are both perceived, and in reality, free of the influence of financial backers over our editori
