Note: This is a total knee jerk reaction to the tweets & [1]post from
The Verge that Chris Ziegler was simultaneously a new Apple employee
and an existing The Verge editor covering Apple.
Working for two employers at once isn't new. It happens all the time.
But you can't report about company B for company A while also an
employee for company B. It's Journalism 101, a class I took. I know
famous corporate blogs and sites occasionally like to blur journalistic
lines. This violation, if true, is clear.
Assuming Tim Cook didn't appear apropos of nothing on Chris Ziegler's
doorstep the day his dual employment began, and nothing in what I've
read so far indicates an immaculate hiring, The Verge should at least
brand every article Chris wrote for the past 6 months as suspect. His
motives aren't known. We can only speculate when Mr. Ziegler entered
into discussion and ultimately received the offer to join Apple.
Apple should dismiss Mr. Ziegler if the accusations are true. If he was
duplicitous to The Verge management, co-workers, and readers it stands
to reason he will be duplicitous to Apple as well. His ethics, at
least, are questionable.
If someone I hired knowingly still worked in such a conflict of
interest I would fire them for cause. I'd be curious to learn of
environments where such action wouldn't be the norm.
Again, I don't know all the details or all the facts. If correct, the
course for Apple and The Verge is clear.
Also on:
[2]Tumblr
__________________________________________________________________
My original entry is here: [3]Journalism & Ethics. It posted Fri, 23
Sep 2016 23:00:59 +0000.
Filed under: business,
References
Visible links
1.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/23/13036012/a-note-from-the-editor-in-chief-about-chris-ziegler
2.
http://prjorgensen.tumblr.com/post/150836994128
3.
https://www.prjorgensen.com/?p=631
Hidden links:
5.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1othJh/comments
