Journalists: stay out of the political process

Yet another newspaper muckety-muck, the editor of the Rocky Mountain News, has decreed that journalists enjoy no right to participate in the political process beyond voting:

Journalists have to give up certain things for the sake of their job. Of course, normally they should be able to go to concerts or movies of their choosing. It's important for us to be curious and to be exposed to different ideas.

But journalists shouldn't become part of the story. Even columnists, cartoonists and editorial writers, who do take political positions in their work, shouldn't join or financially support political causes. If they do, it will be impossible for readers to perceive them as independent agents. The people and events we cover should be the story. We need to protect the credibility of our work by not taking sides outside the newspaper.

That doesn't mean I think journalists shouldn't vote. They should. But other than that they should stay out of politics. No yard signs. No bumper stickers. ...

The editor laid out the strict policy for newsroom employees after discovering that some staffers were actually planning to attend a rock concert by Don Henley, with the proceeds going to the Democratic candidate for Senate.

We've discussed this before. Other than political reporters, middle- and upper-tier news editors and a few others, these kinds of prohibitions make no sense for the vast majority of newsroom staffers (sports reporters, food editors, artists, et al.).