ARTS & FARCES internet

Henry Norr was my editor at MacWEEK, back in the day. Now he’s the technology columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. But maybe not for long. Norr has been suspended without pay for participating in what he describes as a “peaceful civil disobedience against the war,” in a letter to James Romenesko (I’d link to Norr’s letter, but Romenesko’s weblog lacks permanent links).

Actually, Norr was suspended for falsifying his timecard. He says he took a sick day on Thursday 20 March, having spent the day in the pokey after being arrested for blocking the intersection in front of Citicorp and the British Consulate in San Francisco’s financial district. Norr claims he was sick, “heartsick over the beginning of the war, nauseated by the lies and the arrogance and the stupidity that led to it, and deeply depressed by the death and destruction it would bring.”

This should have come as no surprise to Norr’s managers at the Chronicle—Norr had applied for a leave of absence on 14 March and had emailed advance notice of his probable arrest.

In mainstream publications like the Chronicle, it’s fairly common practice to disallow journalist participation in any political activity other than voting. The unwashed masses will question their reporters’ objectivity, don’t you know. At any rate, according to an account in the San Jose Mercury News, Norr says that “his bosses agreed before his arrest that he wouldn’t write war-related stories during the conflict.” What’s especially disturbing is that apparently Norr’s actions are not in violation of the Chronicle‘s uncharacteristically liberal political action policy.

Chronicle brass released a memo that found its way to Romanesko’s weblog (scroll down; that link will be dead soon): “The Chronicle does not forbid employees from engaging in political activities but needs to prevent any appearance of any conflict of interest. Staff members who wish to become involved with any political cause or campaign should take care not to create the appearance of a conflict of interest. When there is a possible question, staff members should consult with the executive editor or his designee.”

It’s past time for mainstream publications—especially Hearst organs like the San Francisco Chronicle—to relinquish their fears of appearances of conflict of interest and focus on real, actual conflicts of interest. Everyone’s biased and objectivity never existed in human form. Get over it. The question for a journalist is whether or not his reporting is true and fair and whether or not genuine conflicts of interest are avoided and disclosed when unavoidable. I can vouch for Norr’s veracity. Of his managers’, I’m not so sure.

I’m thankful that the publication I work for, Utne magazine, is more enlightened. The owner, Nina Utne, was arrested in a situation similar to Norr’s several weeks ago. And we’ve cast our collective lot closely with the peace movement by adding our domain name to the Code Pink buttons and bumper stickers and spending considerable resources on the Code Pink website.

So thanks Henry, for having the anatomy to put your ass on the line for what you believe in. I’ll remain ever vigilant for your civil disobedience clouding your technology reporting.