Connie Coyne writes in The Salt Lake Tribune that the The Commercial Appeal’s attempt to monetize content was a big “oops” in the world of journalistic “stinkers”:

“Hold on to your seats. The Memphis newspaper wanted to monetize the content of news stories by putting sponsorship credit lines above the body of stories, and the effort blew up in the newsroom. … A newspaper has nothing if it loses its credibility with readers. If the trust relationship between the paper and the reader is broken, then the newspaper loses its ability to serve that reader.”

Ed Wasserman writes in The Miami Herald that recent lapses by The New York Times Sunday Magazine and CBS News reveal dangerous arrogance:

“Why is it that the mightier the news organization, the likelier it will stand by ethical blunders that would shame a first-year reporter? Apparently, along with industrial mastery comes the right to deny, evade, whine and nitpick instead of owning up to what you did wrong and making sure you don’t do it again.”

Is it OK for a technology reporter in San Jose to call for the mayor of Oakland to resign? (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-10-10/news/a-misdirected-missive/full) Does such a campaign cross from impartiality, a fundamental for reporters, to advocacy? It sure seems so to me. I agree with The New York Times’ anti-activism approach. I won’t argue that reporters are robots and have no personal feelings, but they certainly shouldn’t have public opinions while they’re journalists, whether the issues are on their beat or not. We make a difference by pursuing truths, through our journalism, not by taking sides and lobbying.

After a phone-service provider gives him bad numbers, David Pogue comes clean with readers:

“I’m not exactly sure how the problem could have been avoided—in 20 years of reviewing tech products, nobody has ever deliberately misled me on hard facts like prices—but I thought you should hear about it from me.”

Old-school ethics: Even in Pogue’s high-tech world, they haven’t become obsolete.

More from The New York Times …