Poynter on the Record

Amid growing criticism, the executive producer of KTLA-TV's "Morning News" defended the show's decision last week to accept free accommodations in exchange for broadcasting its morning program from the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena.

Rich Goldner acknowledged Tuesday that three of his four anchors — Michaela Pereira, Sam Rubin and Carlos Amezcua — were given free rooms the night before broadcasting live from the posh hotel, but said there was no breach of journalistic ethics as suggested by a local newspaper. The fourth anchor, weatherman Mark Kriski, did not stay at the hotel...

Every medium has its ethical "squishy" areas, said Kelly McBride, an ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, a Florida school for professional journalists. "You can't write a rule for every possible situation," McBride said. "But this case doesn't really seem gray to me. If a story comes out of the news division, there's strict protocols, and one of those is taking freebies for coverage is over the line."
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