Washington Post: "Sirota's undisclosed connection to Sanders is a breach of journalistic ethics" [View all]

[Talking Tom]

Washington Post (March 20, 3019):

Sirota’s undisclosed connection to Sanders is a breach of journalistic ethics. The basic rule is that journalists are supposed to be free of any personal or financial relationship with those they cover or comment on, even an “informal” relationship, as Sanders’s campaign has described Sirota’s pre-hiring role. Alternatively, reporters are obligated to at least disclose such relationships so that readers or viewers can evaluate the integrity of the reporting for themselves.

Sirota, 43, not only didn’t mention his relationship with Sanders’ campaign but apparently sought to erase his long history of attacks against Sanders’ opponents. Just hours before his hiring by Sanders was announced, Sirota deleted about 20,000 or so of his tweets. He suggested that the timing of the mass deletion was coincidental, telling the Atlantic that his account was scrubbed by an “autodeleter” that periodically and automatically removes his posts.

It remains unclear how long Sirota advised the Sanders camp before his hiring. Neither Sirota nor Sanders’ representatives responded to multiple requests for comment on Wednesday.

Sirota’s vitriolic tweets and blog posts also appear to be at odds with the ethos of the Sanders’ campaign, which has stressed that it will “respectfully engage” other Democratic candidates. His hiring as a speechwriter also appears to be an acknowledgment that Sanders, whose extemporaneous public remarks have been a sign of his authenticity, will at times be scripted like other politicians.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-bernie-sanders-supporter-and-journalist-had-a-secret-he-kept-from-his-readers/2019/03/20/063aabee-4b26-11e9-b79a-961983b7e0cd_story.html