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Fortune Magazine's Ethical Problem

Talking News Biz: Raising the Buffett/Loomis question again. Loomis, who received the lifetime achievement award last year from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, is writing about information disclosed in an annual report that she edited. Carmine Tiso, senior manager of communications for Fortune, told me in an e-mail, “Yes, Carol did edit the annual report, as she has mentioned in some of her previous stories on Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway in FORTUNE.” However, this point — that Loomis edited the annual report that she’s writing about — is not mentioned in any of the current stories.

Loomis is unquestionably a fine journalist, and Fortune a great magazine. But the situation is a huge blind spot for Fortune — and it’s not the first time the publication has neglected to disclose relevant conflicts.

Transparency is a requirement in this new era of journalism. We’re not seeing enough.

1 Comment on “Fortune Magazine's Ethical Problem”

  1. #1 rexblog.com: Rex Hammock’s weblog » Blog Archive » links for 2007-03-03
    on Mar 2nd, 2007 at 10:20 pm

    […] Fortune Magazine’s ethical problem | Center for Citizen Media Dan Gillmor: “Transparency is a requirement in this new era of journalism. We’re not seeing enough.” (tags: magazines) permalink | categories: All other | Time posted: 12:12 am on Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 […]