ethics

People are questioning the propriety of a new TV and Internet ad that resurrects the voice and image of murdered Beatle John Lennon to promote the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation, which supplies durable, low-cost laptop computers to underprivileged children in foreign countries. The ad digitally recreates Lennon's voice, with his bespectacled face appearing to mouth the words, "Imagine every child, no matter where in the world they were, could access a universe of knowledge. They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want. I tried to do it through my music, but now you can do it in a very different way. You can give a child a laptop, and more than imagine, you can change the world." Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, gave permission to use her husband's image free of charge, and the ad was created pro-bono, but still people are finding the idea of manipulating dead celebrities to promote products "creepy" and unsettling. A comment in a Laptop Magazine blog laid out a common opinion of such ads: "What's next? Elvis for peace in Darfur? John Wayne would probably have gotten behind AIDS education and prevention measures ... Where does it end? Why do we need dead people to help us envision a better future? I suppose there's nobody alive that would agree to this? Sad times."

"Journalists and many others (rightly) lionizing the late W. Mark Felt, the former FBI official, for his contribution as 'Deep Throat' in helping to bring down Richard Nixon, should not overlook the fact that Felt was one of the architects of the bureau's notorious COINTELPRO domestic spying-and-burglary campaign," writes Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher. Mitchell notes that some of the people spied on included journalists and personal friends of his, including Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo. FBI agents illegally spied on them (even though they had committed no crime) by hiding in the woods near their cabin, breaking in at least half a dozen times, opening their mail, inspecting their bank records, bugging their bedroom, and planting a homing device in their car.

The Bush administration has approved a new "conscience protection" rule that allows health care workers to opt out of administering any form of medical care they feel is objectionable on moral or religious grounds. The new rule will permit emergency room workers to withhold information from rape victims about access to emergency contraception, and will allow doctors in federally-funded clinics to refuse to tell a pregnant woman that her fetus has a severe abnormality. A press release on the Department of Health and Human Services Web site says the law will "protect health care providers from discrimination." DHHS secretary Michael Leavitt said that doctors have a duty only "to provide care that they are comfortable providing." The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops praised the new rules, saying medical workers "should not be required to take the very human life they are dedicated to protecting." The rule is scheduled to take effect the day before President Bush leaves office. Democratic House Representatives Diana DeGette of Colorado and Louise Slaughter of New York plan to introduce a Congressional resolution rejecting the Bush administration's last-minute rules.

When Congress drafted the $700 billion financial bailout bill, they intended to limit Wall Street executives' sky-high pay. To do this, they included a process for reviewing executive pay, recovering bonuses based on unrealized earnings, prohibiting "golden parachutes" and punishing firms that break the rules. But just before the bill passed, the Bush administration insisted Congress make one little change in the bill's wording that pertained to that provision. The change said that penalties would only apply to firms that sold their troubled assets at an auction, since that was how the Treasury Department originally said it planned to use the money. But auctions have not been used to dispose of bad assets after all, and Bush's change effectively created a loophole allowing companies that take bailout money to circumvent restrictions on top executives' lavish pay. Senators on the Finance Committee are considering whether they should amend the law to assure the enforcement mechanism applies to firms that participate in the bailout.

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has issued a statement strongly criticizing the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) for its continued use of retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey as an on-air military analyst, while failing to disclose McCaffrey's multiple conflicts of interest that were recently detailed in the New York Times. "When the retired general offers his insight on the air for NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, viewers are left with the impression he is an 'objective' observer, a former military man speaking from the depths of his experience," it states. "What the networks have failed to tell viewers is that McCaffrey has a financial interest in the war." According to Andy Schotz, the chairman of SPJ's Ethics Committee, "these networks -- which are owned by General Electric, a leading defense contractor -- are giving the public powerful reasons to be skeptical about their neutrality and credibility. ... These are raging conflicts of interest embedded into reporting on crucial news." Writing for the Columbia Journalism Review, Charles Kaiser asks if there is "any limit to the shamelessness of NBC News," which "has never once disclosed any of McCaffrey's multiple conflicts of interest on the air. ... McCaffrey is the living embodiment of all the worst aspects of entrenched Washington corruption -- a man who shares with scores of other retired officers a huge financial interest in having America conduct its wars for as long as possible."

When Forbes.com wrote last winter about the proper diet for preventing colds and the flu, the article included advice from nutritionist and former TV host Lisa Hark to drink orange juice. As Tom Avril points out, however, "vitamin C's value as a cold-fighter is unclear," and "Hark failed to mention" that she "was being paid by the Florida orange industry to promote the health benefits of its product." Hark says what she did was common practice. "She may be right about that," Avril says, pointing to examples of financial ties between the food and restaurant industries and individual nutritionists affiliated with dietary organizations including the Obesity Society and the American Dietetic Association.

Doctors Frederick Goodwin and Joseph Biederman are counterattacking in an effort to defend their reputations following disclosures that they took millions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies while promoting the drug companies' products. Biederman, whose industry-funded research contributed to a 40-fold increase in the use of antipsychotic medicines in children, has written a letter to the Boston Globe insisting that he was "transparent" about his funding and that his sole concern has been "the treatment of children and families experiencing great suffering." Goodwin, who talked up psychiatric drugs on his PBS program, has blasted the New York Times and psychiatrist Daniel Carlat for their reports on his failure to disclose $1.3 million in pharma payments. Carlat in turn has replied that Goodwin should "stop blaming everybody else for this mess. ... This entire fiasco could have been averted if you had chosen to inform NPR listeners of your financial conflicts of interests at the beginning of shows focusing on pharmaceuticals."

Illinois Governor Rod BlagojevichThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich after wiretaps showed he planned to sell or trade the open Senate seat left by Barack Obama to obtain financial and personal benefits for himself and his wife. If he couldn't get what he considered to be satisfactory compensation for the appointment, Blagojevich planned on taking the Senate seat himself. The government also accused Blagojevich of threatening to withhold state financial assistance to the troubled Tribune Company, publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, unless the Tribune fired its editorial board members who had been critical of him. The Governor is alleged to have said in a phone call about the board members, "Our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get 'em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support." Blagojevich is the second Illinois governor in a row to be arrested and charged with corruption. Former Governor George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and fraud in 2006.

The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), the peak body for PR professionals and lobbyists in the UK, is horrified that the opposition Conservative Party is proposing that government agencies be banned from hiring lobbyists. APPC is urgently seeking a meeting with the shadow minister for the cabinet office, Nick Hurd, after he told the Times that "the hiring of lobbyists by government bodies to grab more government cash is a financial scandal." The controversy follows the Conservative Party documenting that state-funded agencies had spent over £9.7 million (US$14.4 million) on at least 71 separate contracts with lobbying firms over a five-year period. Hurd has proposed that, if the Conservative Party is elected, it would emulate the Byrd Amendment, which banned U.S. government agencies from hiring lobbyists. The amendment was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1989.

Arguing an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Jesse Williams, a African American man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for 42 years, Philip Morris (PM) lawyers likened the company to a civil rights victim. PM also compared itself to a death row inmate illegally denied due process, an indigent criminal denied adequate legal representation, and even the civil rights group NAACP. Mayola Williams, Jesse's wife, pursued the personal injury case on behalf of her husband after his death, arguing that PM is liable because of its longstanding misinformation campaigns designed to allay fears about smoking. In 1999, a Portland, Oregon jury ruled against PM and awarded $81 million to Williams' estate. After the original verdict, PM finally admitted publicly that smoking causes cancer, but the company continues to appeal the case. PM's now seeking a new trial and relief from the punitive damages award, whose value with interest has now climbed to over $140 million.