A major resort in Key West has just offered our Newspaper’s travel editor a free trip down to write a review about them. She’s a great writer who’s been with us for a long time. She won’t quit if we don’t let her go, but she’s definitely earned it. Should we let her go? How would our readers react if they knew the trip was paid for by the resort? How might this affect office morale? Will the other reporters be jealous? Pick a side and argue your point.
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Honestly we should send her. She’s a good writer, she’s paid her dues — if people start to get snippy in the copy room, such is the life of an office; the gossip and comments happen everywhere, and it wouldn’t matter who was sent, someone would be unhappy. Also sending a seasoned reporter, she will know how to handle the delicate nature of a sponsored trip and we can rely on her to give us good, solid reporting that will enhance the visit and give our readers something viable to go off of. I don’t think our readers will respond negatively to the fact it was a paid expense unless this is relatively new for our travel reporter — does she often have to pay her own way? Do we pay? Or are the other trips typically sponsored as well?
Ultimately there’s no good way to write this story in an ethical fashion if the stay is being paid for by the resort. Though we may want to let our writer have a good time to relax and recharge, we should probably be paying for it ourselves if we wish to avoid potential controversy. Office morale would likely be less impacted by her vacation were it given by us rather than the resort owners — and potentially less volatile, if another reporter decides to leak the source of the trip over jealousy or disdain.
I think that, unfortunately, there would be no way to write the article without readers thinking the editors opinion was swayed by a free resort stay. If it’s truly that important for us to write the article, and really that important for the resort to have this seasoned editor write one about them, then lets pay for our editor to go there (as mentioned, she’s definitely earned it), and then lets use the incentive of a free resort stay as a random drawing for one of our readers. That way, the article is still written and our editor still gets a much deserved trip to an amazing resort, but our readers will also be more interested in reading the article if they are aware that there is a way for them to enter to win a stay. The resort wouldn’t be spending any more money than they originally intended for the editor to come there, and yes our company will be dishing out some money for our travel editor to go there, but isn’t that what we have her for? To travel and write about these amazing places? The answer in my opinion would be no, but lets spin the situation and make the best of it.
I think we have an organizational problem if we are not actively taking care of our people and rewarding one creates undertones of favoritism or cronyism. I think we need to evaluate internally what the disconnect is with our reward system. If a firm wants to pay for the service to house one of our reporters and it is a nice reward then they should go. That reporter should be briefed on ethical considerations and have a manager inform the company that we in no way have to write a raving review if it is not warranted. We would also ensure that our readers understood it at the beginning of the narrative and they are then free to make their own judgements. We trust our readers and never want to abuse them by selling out. Next we need to work with our stakeholders to ensure that we are rewarding talent fairly as well as uniquely. Nothing says that management doesn’t care then a one size fits all approach to awards. By having targeted work groups and guided discussions we need to change the culture. If this trip could cause dissent then it was present way before it and now we are reacting to a personnel issue. This is the most dangerous kind because it deals with a critical intangible — morale.
I agree, its important that our workers feel valued and appreciated. This trip is an excellent way to show our appreciation to one of our top reporters. If our employees aren’t being rewarded for their hard work they won’t be happy with our company, and therefore won’t be as concerned with putting their best work out there. We need to award their efforts.
I agree that it’s important to not show favoritism. Maybe there’s a way people could be recognized every year for their efforts and talents. I remember a funny episode from the Office, and Dunder Miflon Paper Company. They had the Dunder Awards, or something like that. Although it was silly, everyone was recognized for something!
As the Editor in Chief of this newspaper I believe we should let her go on the trip. It is a short working vacation for her and will there is no cost to the paper. Over her 20-year career she has worked hard for the newspaper and readers and I believe she has earned the right to go. She has the experience and qualifications for this job in Key West.
Our readers might be upset if they knew the trip wasn’t paid for by our Newspaper. However, I believe this will be a benefit to our traveling readership. There are many examples of resort review sites where fake reviews are submitted. According to smarttravelasia.com TripAdvisor alone hosts more than 75 million opinions and sees 60 million visitors per month. The lack of stringent vetting and a free-for-all posting platform causes the reviews to fluctuate wildly from deliriously positive to downright terrible. Our travel editor has visited several resorts in Florida, Mexico, Dominican Republic and other countries in the past, paid by the resorts. Her reporting is unbiased, objective and balanced. In fact, she has written several negative reviews which have resulted in improvements to these resorts to the benefit of future travelers. As well, letters to this paper from our readers commend her on her impartiality.
Although the other reporters might be jealous, I believe the morale around the office will not be affected because that’s her job and she has excelled in that position for 20-years. Jealousy is a given in any office environment anytime there is a raise, promotion or recognition of a job well done. I think staff should be more concerned with their own responsibilities and jobs as opposed to worrying and being jealous of an editor doing their job.
I like how you brought up the idea that the trip, free or not, may be helpful to the readers interested in travel opportunities. Good point!
I don’t think we should send her to a resort, to write a review about the resort that is paying for her trip. I think this crosses too many lines. The first one is that our readers could think the review is very biased and not believe it anyway. That is a big hit to the honesty and integrity our readers have come to expect from us. Even though our reporter is very experienced, it could color her objectivity. Even if it is only a little bit, it takes away from her review. I also think the resort would expect a good review and this could cause problems if the resort is terrible and deserves a bad review.
Although I don’t think it would cause a lot of problems with fellow workers, it could cause some of them to feel we are playing favorites. It is hard enough to keep peace in a working environment and I don’t feel we should intentionally do something that could create a rift between employees.
I do think we need to have some type of incentive and reward program in place. That way, when our employees deserve an all expenses paid vacation, we can give it to them without any strings attached.
JRN F101 — Wyman — Summer Week 6, Discussion 2 of 3
I think accepting a free trip to the resort in Key West is a potential slippery slope and an issue that deserves some thought before making a decision. If it is customary and part of the assigned responsibilities for our travel editor to go on such trips and it is made clear in the reviews published, then I wouldn’t see an issue. But, if there is no established protocol to permit accepting the invite then doing so could lead to dissention among staff and mistrust from the readership. Other reporters could be jealous. If no policy exists, management should make a determination and communicate it to staff. If there is a travel budget it may be more appropriate to pay for the travel and lodging with the budget instead of potentially being biased in travel reviews, or being perceived as biased by our readers. If the free trip is accepted it should be made clear to the resort that any reviews published may contain unfavorable content based on an impartial review.
It’s inevitable that the other reporters will be jealous. However if everyone knows what a hard worker she has been, and they understand she’s more then earned it than I don’t think it will change the office morale much.
As for the trip itself, the resort knows our reputation, and knows we try to write truthful, nonbiased reviews. Therefore them offering up the trip will not sway our reporter in their direction. She will write her review with honesty, and integrity. If our readers learned of how the trip was paid, for I would only hope that they would understand business is business, but we don’t compromise our integrity with sweetened deals. We will still put out the same honest reporting regardless of the circumstances surrounding our reviews.
I agree that the other reporters will definitely wish they could get in on it to. If the reporter who was chosen did nothing to earn it, then I am sure there would be a problem. But if it’s obvious to everyone she is a hard worker, why not? It’s like getting a promotion.
Week 6 Part 2 of 3 [Eddie Crosby]
In my response to the above question of whether we should let a seasoned reporter go to Key West to do a reporting job, and how would our viewers respond, well here is my answer, It happens all the time…Corporations send their news reporters all over the world to cover simple things like elections and grand openings, sometimes even get paid from the sponsors for their time, it is just the way business works, free or paid publicity for either the person reporting or the agency its self. Now I think this question has a hidden agenda mixed in, this is Key West, right a nice vacation spot with plenty to do before and after her reporting job is over and should the viewers be upset over this, well again this is where I am again glass half full, news happens all over the world, yes sometimes in great vacation spots and then again on the flip side a war zone. So I guess it is a matter of is she willing to do it more than can she in my opinion. Now as far as jealous tensions go, suck it up, because next time a big story or advertising campaign comes up, maybe if you’re lucky you might get picked, but if all you want to do is complain then maybe your number might get skipped and the news corporation might move onto the next person… Food for thought.
I see no conflict of interest here as long as our writer lets the readers know up front that her review was done after a free trip was provided by the resort. This particular writer is a good writer who deserves the trip and since she is a our travel editor these kinds of things should be commonplace. I have read articles before where trips were given to the reviewer and the reader knows up front that their is a chance of bias but they can take the information as biased or not. As for jealousy issues, again this particular writer does a good job and handles the travel editing so trips shouldn’t be that unusual and the office should deal with it like they normally do and hope the writer has a good time.
I do think this can be a very dangerous situation. If the readers were to find out, it could cause a big issue. So because of that, I don’t think she should take their offer to go down and review them for a free trip. It could cause bias opinion and the best way to stay true and honest to the readers is to not be bias or anything along those lines. That doesn’t mean that she still can’t go down and review the the resort, it just means she shouldn’t accept any extra things just for going down to review them. Whether she is bias or not about it, readers could assume that she is giving them a better review because of the extra things she received. What will she say if she goes to another resort and they don’t offer her the same things that she was offered at the other resort? So she can still go and review them but without any extra things attached that way the playing field is as even as possible and the credibility is as professional as it can be.
I think this person has earned it. If it is evident that she has worked hard and has been selected from her dedication and talent, then I support her. People may be jealous and complain, but they wouldn’t be if they were the ones that could go. The other workers may say that it’s showing favoritism and if there is not some sort of compensation for it all, then it shouldn’t happen. I disagree. I don’t know why these days there’s an idea that hierarchy is a bad thing. People worry it resembles tyranny or something? But really there is hierarchy in every business and company, winners and losers. If others workers are never rewarded but earned it, that would be a problem. But in this case, the lady that can travel for the story will get good publicity and bring in more money. Maybe that will enable us to allow other reporters to travel in the future.
We should let her go. She’s a veteran reporter and the truth is that has it’s perks. I believe as a seasoned professional she will be able to handle this trip with grace and excellence. I have no doubt she will be able to offer an unbiased opinion of the resort. Concern for office moral is valid, but she’s paid her dues. No one gets into a competitive field, such as journalism, without realizing that ranking will matter. I wouldn’t be overly concerned about office moral unless there is an obvious problem this could create between equally high ranking writers. If other’s are jealous, it will fade. Everyone is jealous of those who get to travel.
I absolutely think we should let her go. If she’s earned it then she can consider this one of the perks of the job. It also takes the pressure off of us to do something special for her that is going to cost the company money. Given her immaculate reputation, I don’t think the readers will have cause to question the integrity of her review. If her office members are anything like the people I think they are, then they will celebrate her success and think of it as an incentive to keep working hard. Some envy is expected, but I don’t anticipate it to be the kind we have to worry about.