If You're F**king The Elephants, You Can't Cover The Circus

Michele Norris, co-host of NPR's "All Things Considered," is leaving that gig for a year. Why? Her husband has signed on with Obama's re-election team. NYT Media Decoder Brian Stelter

Her husband, Broderick Johnson, started Monday.  Last week Michele sent NPR a memo reading in part and quoted by Stelter: “This has all happened very quickly. . . . “After careful consideration, we decided that Broderick’s new role could make it difficult for me to continue hosting” the program. She cited both the ethical problem and “the impact that it will most certainly have on our family life.”

In 2004, when Broderick went to John Kerry's presidential campaign, Michele kept hosting but didn't do political interviews. "When I worked for ABC News or The Washington Post, Broderick was never a problem."  As the 2004 NPR piece notes, "in fairness to NPR,Johnson was not working for a presidential candidate," quoting part of NPR's ethics code:

All of us are in positions of trust when it comes to both our audience and the people and institutions that we cover. To maintain that trust requires that there be no real or perceived overlap between the private interests and opinions of NPR journalists and their professional responsibilities. ... An employee covered by this code has the responsibility to disclose potential conflicts of interest...

How does ABC News ethically justify employing correspondent Claire Shipman married to Obama press spox Jay Carney? 

Related:  "If you're fucking the elephants, you can't cover the circus."  Washington Monthly regurgitating, not in original form, NYT exec editor and columnist A.M. Rosenthal's famous quote.

Violating the 'Rosenthal Rule': When Reporters Sleep With Their Sources.  Ben Shapiro Big Journalism