Category Archives: Act Independently

Being friends with a source

NPR’s Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg holds an accolade that is a rarity in journalism – covering one beat for multiple decades. However, some have raised concerns about her friendship with the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (the subject of Totenberg’s most recent book), and the impact it has on Totenberg’s ability to report on the Court and other legal issues. The SPJ Code of Ethics says journalists should act independently and “avoid conflicts of interest, real or