Ben Fordham hits back at Mediawatch for asking ‘ridiculous’ questions
17 February 2021 · News
2GB 's Ben Fordham challenged the ABC's Mediawatch for asking 'ridiculous' questions about a story he broke on Barnardo's Mother of the Year award this week.
The popular charity ditched its quarter...
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Tags: 2GB | Ben Fordham | Mediawatch
As I understand it, Fordham received notice about Bernardos’ Mother of the Year award ending because he’s one of their ambassadors. Fordham then broke the news of the decision, which he called “disappointing”. Media Watch got hissy because he turned a charitable relationship into tacky tabloid journalism. It seems there’re lessons for everyone involved.
A hard lesson for Bernardos to either not appoint ambassadors like Fordham (who are useful for fundraising in good times) or to make it clear in writing the confidentiality issues involved in being an ambassador.
For Fordham, he needs to know that being a brand ambassador comes with certain ethical responsibilities that may content with his job as a journalist. And he needs to decide how he’ll react to a conflict BEFORE he takes on the ambassador role – not afterwards.
And Media Watch have been reminded that the ethical world they like to inhabit doesn’t have the same atmosphere as the one Fordham breaths. It’ll produce fewer gotcha stories but save some heartburning indignation in the long run.