New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof may have crossed over ethical boundaries when he posed as a Chinese national to test China’s censorship limits.

From Portfolio.

Whether he’s buying prostitutes’ freedom or taking college students on a tour of African slums, New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof isn’t the sort of journalist who worries about getting overly involved in the stories he covers. But did his crusading spirit cause Kristof to overstep the paper’s ethics guidelines?

In yesterday’s column, Kristof wrote about his longstanding efforts to test the limits of internet censorship in China. His method for doing so involved posing as a Chinese national to write various provocative comments and blog posts on Chinese sites and then seeing how long until the authorities deleted them. To help disguise his identity, Kristof even enlisted a Chinese co-conspirator who made sure his language sounded authentic.

Ethics guidelines are meaningless when journalists like Kristo are allowed to define the boundaries to suit their own purposes.  No wonder the public holds the media in such high disregard.

 

 

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