Luther Turmelle, a reporter for the New Haven Register, is also Region 1 Director for the Society of Professional Journalists. He is interested in knowing whether other journalism professionals in the state think it’s problematic that a member of the Fox CT morning team (Rachel Lutzker) is paid to pitch products.
Luther writes:
I’m old enough to remember when some television newsrooms used to have rules that kept their reporters from taking part in this kind of activity. Serving as an advertising spokesperson has the potential to impact a journalist’s credibility. But maybe credibility doesn’t matter any more. It’s not something that sells, not the same way that having an attractive young woman pitching your product does.
Luther’s full blog is here. 
But consider this: we are told that Rachel is a a Clear Channel Radio employee and that endorsements and commercials have always been a part of her duties. She records commercials every day as do all other radio talent at Clear Channel. She is not an employee of FOX Connecticut…
I think what’s important to note here is it doesn’t matter who she works for. She is an on-air personality working at a “news” station. Whether she’s contracted labor isn’t the point – suppose one of these companies she’s a spokesperson for ends up being investigated…? How does the station handle that? This is clearly a conflict of interest.
[…] few weeks ago we posted a column about on-air personalities endorsing products. We see in MaryEllen Fillo’s Java column today […]
Lutzker’s work for Barberino Motors is an affront to true journalism and clearly a conflict of interest. There are all sorts of complaints about Barberino’s sales tactics. Would Fox61 ignore a legitimate news story about those complaints because Rachel collects a check from them? It’s bad enough that most of these TV folk collect oversized checks simply for reading off a teleprompter, which most high schoolers could do. That they are allowed to pad their pocketbooks by selling out to businesses is deplorable. And what is even more deplorable is that there is virtually no public outcry. Fox61 watchers who stand idly by and ignore this should be ashamed of themselves.