Star's public editor on conflicts of interest at the paper

Kathy English, the Star's public editor, deals with two cases of possible conflict of interest. She says that while she did not find any evidence that the journalists involved distorted their work to their own interests, the "reality that perception truly does matter was made clear to me in looking into two recent suggestions of conflict of interest in work published in the Star."

" . . . in both situations, it seems to me that these journalists did not fully consider the imperative to avoid even the perception of a conflict by either stepping away from the assignment or disclosing to readers any facts that might lead to the perception of a conflict," she wrote.

In the first instance, a reader questioned freelance theatre critic Mark Selby's review of the Acting Up Stage Company's production of the musical Light in the Piazza after discovering that Selby was scheduled to perform at a cabaret evening being produced by that same theatre company.

"I do not understand how we can expect an unbiased review from someone who is working for the same company whose show he is reviewing," the reader said in an email, adding that she expects reviews in the Star to be "unbiased and without conflict of interest."

"She's right to hold that expectation. In looking into this, I learned that Selby was booked to play piano at the cabaret production by vocalist Sara Farb, whom he often accompanies. Farb, not the theatre company, employed him and paid his salary, so this was not in fact a direct conflict," English wrote.

"Certainly there's nothing to suggest that Selby's review of the musical was affected by this connection. Still, given that readers did not know these facts, it is the perception of conflict in Selby's three-star review of the musical that's of concern here," English added.

The Star's newsroom also acted to dispel any appearance of conflict of interest following the publication in November of sports reporter Mary Ormsby's Page 1 exclusive report about the Toronto Leaside Girls' Hockey Association's accusations of gender discrimination in the allocation of ice time. That article prompted Mayor David Miller to order that Toronto's public arenas ensure equal access to ice time.

Ormsby's report, and her follow-up story the next day, did not disclose the fact that her 7-year-old daughter plays in the 900-member girls' hockey league. This story was taken over by another reporter after editors became fully aware of Ormsby's connection to the girls' hockey league.


The story was assigned to another reporter after Ormsby told her editors, English said.

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