In recent days, news coverage has detailed how a freelance health journalist was hired by a private investigative firm to file Freedom of Information Act requests seeking information on the activities of an official at the Food and Drug Administration. In the requests the reporter filed, the Politico story said, she requested information in her capacity as a journalist and did not mention being paid by the firm.
The journalist, who is not a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists, confirmed to Politico that she filed the request on behalf of the firm, but said “she hoped the FOIAs would yield an interesting story.” AHCJ has not investigated the details of the matter.
AHCJ’s Statement of Principles disapproves of reporters identifying themselves as journalists while working, even in part, for a non-news organization.
The statement calls for independence and integrity. It says: “Health care journalists should remember that their loyalties reside with the truth and with the needs of the community.”
It calls for independence from the “agendas and timetables of journals, advocates, industry and government agencies … We are the eyes and ears of our audiences/readers; we must not be mere mouthpieces for industry, government agencies, researchers or health care providers.”
With layoffs and cutbacks in the news industry, AHCJ President Charles Ornstein said it is understandable that some journalists must seek corporate work to earn money. However, he said, journalists must not use their journalism credentials to seek out information for such non-journalism clients and should always disclose their correct affiliation when soliciting information.
