Is the Chronicle Editorial Board Acting Unethically?

At this point I think the title of this post is a valid question.

It all started with a nice catch by Kevin Whited at BlogHouston while looking over some campaign finance disclosures. The local blogosphere piled on.

Interestingly, Uncle Darrell pointed out that most credible news sources forbid political contributions by their reporters and editorial writers. Apparently the Chronicle has no such qualms. (Or doesn't feel that contributions are unethical from editorialists)

Now, a commenter at BlogHouston points out this little tidbit:

[Orlando Cepeda {A pseudonym we're sure}, BlogHouston Forums]

Now HERE is an interesting development. This editorial, written by Ms. Georgsson, is prominently displayed on Mincberg's Web site. Coincidentally (or more likely, NOT), it was written one week to the day after Ms. Georgsson forked over her cash to Mr. Mincberg at his fundraiser party.
So not only does she donate $250 in cold hard cash, but she follows it up a week later with a nice little anti-GOP, anti-Emmett editorial for Mincberg to display prominently on his Web site.
That's cozy. And I guess it's the kind of fine journalism we can expect come endrosement time too, I suspect.



Under a cloud
Sept. 5, 2008, 8:37PM
The series of ethics questions bedeviling Harris County elected officials, which began with the forced resignation of District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, shows no signs of letting up as a pivotal election approaches.

Sheriff Tommy Thomas has been the target of reports concerning questionable e-mail deletion policies by his staff and work by county contractors on his private property. Now County Commissioner Jerry Eversole, who has been embroiled in periodic controversies over his campaign fund spending habits since he was elected 17 years ago, tells the Chronicle’s Liz Austin Peterson that he is the focus of an FBI corruption probe and expects to be forced from office.

While proclaiming his innocence, Eversole acknowledged that FBI agents had interviewed his friends and the government could “make a case on me. That’s why I say my days are numbered. There’s no doubt about it.”

Several months ago, the commissioner stormed out of a court session after an in-house report suggested he and other officials had approved lease-purchase contracts with two now-indicted developers, contracts that might have cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Eversole was also angered by a KTRK-TV report that focused on his use of campaign funds to buy firearms and pay for a Florida vacation for himself, spouse and friends. The Harris County district attorney’s office continues to probe those expenditures.

At this point Commissioner Eversole enjoys the presumption of innocence. But given his chronic blindness to the ethical requirements of his office, Eversole’s departure would be appropriate.

County Judge Ed Emmett was appointed by Commissioner’s Court to fill out the term of Robert Eckels, who quit to go into private law practice. Emmett, a Republican, appointed a citizen task force that has come up with recommendations to enhance public scrutiny of county officials. His Democratic opponent, David Mincberg, has made an issue of the large contributions that flow to county officials from interests that do business with the county. Mincberg pointed out more than $150,000 in donations that Emmett’s campaign has received from county contractors this year.

The latest developments all but guarantee that good government issues will dominate hard-fought contests for county judge, county attorney, district attorney and sheriff to be decided in November.

It would be refreshing if rather than just talking ethics at election time, the winners would back meaningful reforms once they take office.

The article on the Mincberg site can be found here dated Sept 5, 2008. The article @ Chron.com (now archived) can be found here.

Ms. Georgsson's contribution can be found on pg 18 here dated 08/29/2008.

It should be noted that, due to the Chronicle's policy of publishing editorials unsigned, there is no way to conclusively identify Ms. Georgsson as the sole author of that editorial. However, her position on the Chronicle Editorial Board certainly raises sufficient doubt as to whether or not she had input into the content and process. Since we are nearing a major election, its also fair to question the impartiality and judgement of the entirety of the Editorial Board based on this information, especially in matter of County politics.

At a minimum, based on the reading of journalism ethics provided by Unca Darrell, there's conduct that violates established codes that's going unaddressed down at 801 Texas Ave. The worst case scenario is that the Chronicle editorial board is violating the trust placed in it by its subscriber base by failing to publically recuse Ms. Georgsson from the endorsement and editorial process until after the election.


Where this falls on the spectrum I'll leave for you to decide.