Ethics basics

I find myself having this conversation repeatedly these days, especially with newer correspondents, so here is a quick review of what you can and cannot do as a Latin Trade correspondent.

Remember, I am absolutely unconcerned about your ability to be ethical. If I doubted that, you wouldn't be writing for us in the first place. More so, the problem is the appearance of conflict, which in the minds of our sources and readers is essentially the same thing. If you do things or say things that can be miscontrued or misunderstood, you can bet they will be.

So, here it is:

Gifts: Do not accept anything of value greater than US$10. Avoid accepting anything at all, but there's no reason to return keychains or other worthless corporate trinkets that might come in the mail. If it is valuable and you get it unsolicited, please return it and explain that you cannot accept it. If the company will not take back whatever the item is, please contact me for some advice on how to handle those rare cases.

Meals: In general, avoid meals with sources. Active correspondents end up eating out five times a week on private expense accounts this way, and it is unacceptable. If your source cannot talk to you at any other time because of travel or time issues, accomodate them but try to pay the check. I will reimburse you within reason. I have had sources buy lunch and then expect coverage simply because they paid for a plate of fish. Do not fall for this. One strategy is to meet them in their office at a non-meal time. Or, accept coffee (less than US$10) and, here as well, try to pay the check.

If a major diginitary is visiting and his or her press people say a meal is your only shot at some time with that person, and they manage to pre-pay or quietly deal with the bill, do not make an issue of it. Just keep it to an absolute minimum and thank them kindly with no promises. Remember, the reason they are taking you to lunch is because some hack journalist in-country ate lunch with them last year and wrote a glowing article later. As far as they know, this tactic works. Prove them wrong, politely.

Travel: Latin Trade correspondents and editors do not accept travel junkets of any kind. We are edging slowly into travel writing through various supplements and are experimenting with where to draw the line for those publications (for instance, our Brazil Editor is working on a feature on business class travel, and we're flying him around the region and obviously not paying for the tickets).

For normal Latin Trade issues, however, no free travel. If we want you to go somewhere, we will finance it or we will not. Sometimes, there are weird cases, like trips where the official government plane is the only way in or out. These we will handle on a case-by-case basis and always with advance editorial approval.

Public-relations professionals have told me that they are aghast at how many Latin American journalists show up for their junkets to cover corporate events, attend the first day, then disappear, only to reappear for the flight home five days later sunburned and carrying a suitcase of duty-free stuff. They bring along their wives and husbands as "assistants" and don't write squat about the company that paid for their virtual vacation. Latin Trade will not be joining these folks in this practice.

Public relations work: Do not work part-time for any private institution we might cover. This includes the government. No press release writing, no speech writing, no translation for corporate clients. People who do all kinds of editorial work for whoever pays the most are honorable professionals. They are called copywriters, and not journalists. You should choose which one you are in advance of working for Latin Trade.

If you daughter's pre-school needs you to translate a document for their Web site, no problem. If Big Company SA wants you to work on their newsletter for a weekly fee, clearly not. Any questions, please ask me.