Staples Center Case Study

3. How does entering into the contract with the Staples Center differ from the sports department accept press passes for the events held in the arena?
The two situations differ in two main ways. For one, when sports journalists report on a game they may give the article a certain slant, but for the most part, the story will be fact-based. A sports story based on a game will either say the home team won or lost regardless of whether the reporter was given free passes. Therefore, the nature of sports reporting compared to other areas of reporting makes it harder for objectivity to be tainted. The second difference is that the contract between the L.A. Times and the Staples Center was a conflict of interest. It outlined that they would have “ideas that would generate revenue for us.” The two businesses shared profits with one another, making it beneficial for both businesses to promote the other. This can be compared to a sports article being printed. A newspaper will …show more content…
The prima facie duties of self-improvement and veracity are called into question for the L.A. Times in this case. On one side of the issue, the newspaper has a duty of self-improvement because it will be a better business if it makes more money. Consequently, this duty would have required the L.A. Times to make the contract with the Staples Center because it was profitable. A conflicting duty is that of veracity. As a news institution it is important for the L.A. Times to tell the truth as it reports. Having a contract with the Staples Center is a conflict of interest and therefore jeopardizes the newspaper’s ability to report with full honesty. Because reporting the truth is the most basic standard of journalism, veracity is the most important duty in this case. The actual duty of the L.A. Times was to refuse the contract because it is more important to honor a news provider’s duty of veracity than to value monetary