The Los Angeles Times quoted Bob Steele, Poynter’s journalism values scholar, in an article about journalists providing medical assistance to those in Haiti:
” ‘There definitely are cases where a journalist who is qualified can and should provide medical assistance when the need is immediate and profound,’ said Bob Steele, journalism values scholar at The Poynter Institute and journalism professor at DePauw University. ‘The problem in Dr. Gupta’s case is that he has done this on a number of occasions in Iraq and now in Haiti. If it’s imperative that he intervene and help medically, then take him out of his journalistic role and do that. But don’t have him covering the same stories in which he’s a participant. It muddles the journalistic reporting. It clouds the lens in terms of the independent observation and reporting.’ “
