Sparks political reporter's blog raises ethical questions

Sparks Tribune political reporter Tom Darby writes a personal political blog that involves many of the subjects he covers for the daily paper.

This was brought to my attention by the person who writes the Nevada blog, Dullard Mush. While the Dullard Mush writer feels that Darby's two forums reflect a conflict of interest and are downright unethical, I maintained that reporters are entitled to their opinions along with the freedom to express them. Because Darby is being open about his opinions, he's allowing readers the kind of insight that will better allow them to sift his newspaper reports and decide for themselves what perspectives or biases might have impacted the reporting process.

Transparency is a good thing, right?

RGJ reporters Anjeanette Damon and Ray Hagar also write a blog, "Inside Nevada Politics," though it runs on the newspaper's Web site and is clearly under the RG-J's editorial control.