Outside roles by NBC's Conde, others reveal a journalism ethics issue: being paid to sit on boards

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 photo, Cesar Conde speaks about the Fusion tv network during a tour of the facilities in Miami. Should people who supervise news organizations, even if their background is more corporate than journalistic, be held to the same standards as their journalists? FILE - Mark Thompson arrives at Portcullis House in London, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013.

Generally, journalists work hard to avoid any situation where a conflict could be alleged, even if the conflict itself does not come to pass: Did reporters, for example, write positive stories on a corporation that a boss is involved with, or ignore bad news because it might anger a superior? Perception can be as important as an actual conflict; some journalists go so far as to not even vote in an election that their outlet is covering.

Leaders in journalism have traditionally worked their way up the ranks but that’s not always the route anymore. Conde succeeded in corporate, not news, roles at Univision and Telemundo before getting his current job. CNN’s Thompson was a top executive at the BBC and The New York Times. At the latter, his biggest achievement was more in business than journalism, shepherding a successful digital transformation.

ABC this spring appointed Debra O’Connell, a longtime executive at the network and its corporate owner, the Walt Disney Co., to a position that oversees ABC News. O’Connell’s background is in sales and marketing. She has unpaid positions on boards involving National Geographic and the A&E Networks, both companies affiliated with Disney.It’s hard to make assumptions about how journalists will deal with knowing the boss has interest in a particular company.

Other situations are murkier. ABC, CBS and Fox News said its news leaders don’t serve on paid outside corporate boards, but couldn’t or wouldn’t point to policies that forbid the practice. News organizations are also left to decide for themselves how to alert readers or viewers of potential conflicts. The Post generally makes clear its owner’s ties to Amazon when writing about the company; a September 2023 story about workplace safety included this disclaimer: “Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.”

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