Salon.Com displays an inexcusable ethics lapse in this story about Ambassador Joe Wilson. Wilson’s taken a beating the past few days after the 9/11 Commission’s report on intelligence failings suggests that Wilson lied on a number of key points about his mission to Niger to investigate whether or not Iraq had attempted to buy uranium from that country.
The Salon.Com article basically defends Wilson, saying the attacks on him are part of choreographed Republican campaign (got that — if Wilson lies, those lies are made public, and then a bunch of conservatives point it out, that’s a new vast right wing conspiracy). The article certainly lives up to Salon’s usual standards, but it also represents an inexcusable ethical lapse on the part of Salon.Com.
Nowhere in the article defending Wilson is it disclosed that Salon.Com has a business relationship with Wilson. He is the featured speaker at a Salon’s “1st seminar cruise” scheduled for September 4-11. It’s just inconceivable that no one at Salon.Com thinks that such an obvious conflict of interest doesn’t need to be disclosed in the article itself (well, okay, this is Salon.Com after all, so no I guess it’s not inconceivable, but it certainly marks a new low).