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[ LOS ANGELES ](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles)
# LA Times Caught in a Conflict of Interest?
January 21 2016
Written by Karen Wolfe.
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LA TIMES ON EDUCATION-A member of a *Facebook* group discussing education asked journalism ethics expert **Peter Sussman** about the *LA Times* education coverage and posted this. (Shared with permission.) "I asked a journalist friend about the ethics of the *LA Times* taking money from Eli Broad while editorializing in favor of his project.”
Here is his response:
"Was I tagged because this is such a tough ethical issue to parse? It is not. With this kind of entanglement with the subject of its news stories, the *Times* has given up the right to expect any trust or credibility for its journalism on education. They are trapped in a massive conflict of interest, and no amount of *pro forma* disclosure will fix that. It's so sad to see what has happened to that once-great publication.
"You can add to the comment that trust and credibility are the life's blood of journalism, and without it, a ‘new’ organization is no different than any other partisan in public disputes, with the added problem that there is no major paper to hold it accountable, although in this case a blogger has apparently stepped into the breach. People have jeopardized and lost their jobs for defending their editorial independence and standing up to such conflicts of interest. I haven't read the background on the issue you've highlighted, but if all your information is accurate, the *Times*' problem extends beyond opinions to reporting, however well-intentioned their education reporters are."
Peter Sussman is a retired longtime *San Francisco Chronicle* editor who is also a past co-author of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.
*(Karen Wolfe is a public school parent, the Executive Director of PS Connect and an occasional contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.*
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 14 Issue 7
Pub: Jan 22, 2016
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