Monday, May 12, 2008
After bemoaning attacks from the "far left," Andrew Sullivan returns a sponsorship from the pharmaceutical industry.
Jul 12, 2001 | Andrew Sullivan's latest controversy began Tuesday, when the New York Times published an article on the recent phenomenon of online "me-zines" -- scrappy, self-produced, sometimes stream-of-consciousness commentaries by celebrity intellectuals. But Sullivan's attempt to achieve what has eluded most online journalism ventures -- make his Web site self-sustaining, maybe even make a profit -- landed him in new trouble with his critics this week, after the story matter-of-factly reported that Sullivan had signed up his first corporate sponsor: the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
PhRMA is the association that looks out for the interests of industry giants like Pfizer and Merck on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. What the Times failed to report is that Sullivan has used his own Web site, as well as his posts at the New York Times Magazine and the New Republic to repeatedly -- and controversially - defend the pharmaceutical industry against criticism over its role in the global AIDS pandemic.
The controversy over Sullivan's site sponsor was short-lived: After reporters from Salon and other news organizations made calls to Sullivan's editors, as well as to journalism experts, about the ethics of a journalist being personally sponsored by an industry he frequently defends, Sullivan announced he would return the $7,500 annual sponsorship. But the larger question raised by the flap isn't likely to go away: How can a one-person "me-zine" develop ethical standards that allow it to accept the kind of advertising and sponsorships that go to corporate media monoliths, without the conflict of interest taint that naturally goes along with a journalist getting the personal backing of a controversial patron?
Loren Ghiglione, the newly installed dean at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, told Salon: " If there is an appearance of a conflict of interest, then Sullivan -- and the media that run him -- ought to be concerned. They can choose to find someone else to write on pharmaceutical topics, identify whatever relationship he has with pharmaceuticals (including recipient of major advertising) to put readers on notice, etc."
And that's precisely the approach his editors at the New Republic and the New York Times Wednesday said they would adopt.
In an e-mail message, Peter Beinart, editor of the the New Republic, where Sullivan writes the prestigious and widely read TRB column, wrote: "Andrew did not consult with me before making this decision. And should he write about the pharmaceutical industry for TNR, he will disclose the relationship."
New York Times spokesman Toby Usnik also issued a statement to Salon on behalf of the New York Times Magazine (editor Adam Moss helped craft the statement) and the newspaper. "We would expect that if Mr. Sullivan were undertaking an article about the pharmaceutical industry for The Times that he would be obliged to disclose such a relationship with his sponsors to the editors and discuss the potential ramifications," the statement read. "Ramifications could include passing on the assignment or, depending on the then current circumstances, disclosing the information to the readers. This is because Mr. Sullivan, like other New York Times freelancers, is required by contract to "avoid conflicts of interests or the appearance of conflict" in accepting assignments for The Times."
Late Wednesday afternoon, Sullivan (who has also written for Salon) e-mailed to inform Salon he had decided to return the money and pull the plug on the sponsorship.
Sullivan had initially moved quickly to spin the issue after the Times story originally appeared, making shrewd use of his own Web site to respond before any media critics had a chance to. "The usual suspects from the far left have emailed me outraged that this website has accepted a small sponsorship from PHRMA," Sullivan wrote Wednesday morning. "It behooves me to say I see absolutely no problems with it. In fact, I am extremely proud to get some support from a great industry that has saved my and countless other people's lives, despite a massive attempt to penalize them for their work." He then went on to describe criticism from his readers as "paranoid hooey" and to claim that "the real worry of those who want to attack the free market in pharmaceuticals is that I might have been a teensy bit effective in my arguments -- and that these arguments might even have some merit. The usual suspects want to silence the opposition."
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