I understand the point you want to make about the distinction between what constitutes reporting vs what constitutes entertainment. And, that would be a good distinction to make.

The point I want to make is, what constitutes professionalism? Lots of occupations make a claim to having a professional status, and it means little more than the sports distinction between being a paid or unpaid player. Profession isn't tied to having an employer. It is tied to those endeavors for which a code of ethics, and an accountability to that code, is not voluntary. There are standards of practice which you breach at your peril. If John King wants to be considered a professional journalist he doesn't get to point to a voluntary code of ethics when he defends his occupational status, and then ignore it when it interferes with his reporting style.

What I get from the John King personalities is their deep desire to be opinion makers. I'm not smarter about a thing when they get done with me, I've simply been manipulated. No professional worthy of the distinction ever manipulates you. That's one of the first items in any profession's code.

Excerpting what I think is the crux of your plea for compassion,

what i'm calling for is some understanding of the work/business environment that "reporters" and all of us operate in.

create rules and structures that you feel comprimise your ethics. what do you do? if you blow a whistle, you may be fired or blacklisted.

The preamble for the journalists code of ethics reads,

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.

http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

which is pretty analogous to the AMA's,

The medical profession has long subscribed to a body of ethical statements developed primarily for the benefit of the patient. As a member of this profession, a physician must recognize responsibility to patients first and foremost, as well as to society, to other health professionals, and to self. The following Principles adopted by the American Medical Association are not laws, but standards of conduct which define the essentials of honorable behavior for the physician.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html

The basis in each is to put the recipient of the service first. Then, your question is, what to do if your ability to put the recipient of the service first is undermined by your employer? The answer, for a professional, is the degree to which they have internalized their code of ethics. If your desire is to adhere to the highest ethical standards, the answer is to confront your employer.

It shouldn't be the case, that the professional's desire to maintain their integrity should be at odds with their employer's; they ought to be coincident for good business reasons. Loss of viewers/readers or loss of patients. Do you really want to entrust your medical care to a physician who offers you substandard care (which is potentially life threatening) for the sake of cost containment? I suppose it could be argued that the medical profession might be more sensitive to the issue because someone could die. Of course, would we want to count the number of military deaths because it was widely and uncritically reported that Saddam had WMD?

In both cases, the assumption of the code is that the needs of the client come before the practitioner; the employer isn't even mentioned - the profession is. The first responsibility of the professional is to the client, and secondly, the profession.

It's really very simple. I never said it was easy. That's what makes a professional, a professional.

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