Neal wrote:>
> I remember a story from a couple years ago. Buddy Blue from the Beat Farmers
> was writing music reviews for the LA Times under the name of Buddy Siegal.
> But, as I heard the story, once Times Pop Editor Robert Hilburn learned of his
> active role as an artist in local clubs, he pretty much told him that it would
> have to be one or the other. Twas a conflict of interest. How could the same
> person who's trying to get gigs at certain clubs also write objectively about
> other gigs at that club? Worth considering.
>
> BTW, Buddy Siegal did cease writing for the Times and is now the music editor
> of the OC Weekly, which obviously doesn't have such an ethical problem, or
> doesn't have ethics... one or the other.
>
Speaking as a weekly editor (with a somewhat smaller market than Orange
County!), sometimes you've got to make a difficult choice between pristine
ethics and rare talent. If you have a good writer or reviewer available to
work for you, and there's nobody around who can do the kind of job he or
she can do, but there remains some sort of conflict of interest, then you
might just hire or use the person, while keeping an eye on any possible
conflicts. That's what I do. I'd imagine the LA Times has plenty of
talent to choose from, a luxury that makes choosing ethics over talent a
more comfortable decision. -- Terry Smith
