Ethics: Food for thought

By Isabelle Khurshudyan

If you are reporting on a game, is it ethical to eat the free food provided in the press box?

The question led to a heated discussion in this morning’s Sports Journalism Institute class because one of the worst things in journalism — and life — is to be called unethical.

I’ve consumed a lot of food in press boxes and I’ve never regarded it as an issue, which I think is indicative of how free food in press boxes does not sway me one way or another. In my mind, it’s a courtesy by the team’s staff to create a better work environment when journalists often have to spend eight to 10 hours covering a game.

Some people in our class argued the free food can influence feelings towards a game or venue. So I solicited the opinions of some of my friends or former colleagues who are journalists — not all sportswriters — and posed the question to them that was posed to us. I think their answers show the bigger picture of ethics: there’s no concrete way to handle this issue and it’s up to each person’s judgment.

Chris Carlson, covers Syracuse football and basketball for the Syracuse Post-Standard: “I understand and have talked to many journalists that do have an issue with it, and while I commend their recognition of the importance of ethics, if we sports reporters are of such little intellect that our coverage can be bought off with a plate of chicken then we have much larger issues to deal with as a profession. I view it as the same as buying a source a cup of coffee or taking them out to lunch. We don’t view it as a bribe and probably don’t expect it to change anything. … We do it as a courtesy, to thank them for their time, to make their lives a little easier and to show them a little respect.”

Joshua Dawsey, Wall Street Journal reporter on the Greater New York team: “As a journalist, you never want to be beholden to anyone. So if I take a source out to lunch, I always pay. If I'm at a party, I rarely take a drink -- unless someone offers and it'd be rude to turn them down. I try to never take anything for free. If I'm somewhere it's impossible to pay, I at least insist on several occasions to the host that I want to pay. That said, I don't find it wholly unethical to dine in the press box. The food you're taking is of minimal value, and any journalist who can be bought off with a $10 meal probably has no integrity to begin with.”

David Teel, senior sports columnist with The Daily Press: “If our bosses or the franchises/schools we cover believe our reporting will, or can, be influenced by what is often cafeteria-caliber slop, then our problem is credibility, not ethics. Besides, how many stadium/arena security types search our bags and get their knickers in a wad when they discover contraband such as bagels, power bars or, God forbid, an apple? Don’t know about you, but during an 8-to-10-hour day in a press box, I gotta eat.”

Darryl Slater, Charleston Post and Courier’s South Carolina Gamecocks beat reporter: “Maybe in the strictest sense you are taking a benefit from the people you’re covering. I feel like there are bigger and more impactful issues in journalism that that.”

Josh Kendall, South Carolina football reporter for The (Columbia, S.C.) State: I certainly don't think it's unethical to eat a free press box meal as I've had a ton of them. … I don't think sharing a meal does anything to blur the professional lines of what we are all there to do.