In the journalism world, this is the equivalent of a capital crime . . .

I ran across this Friday. While it was pretty damned galling and unspeakable, it's hard for me, in my line of work, to say it's impossible.

The billionaire, the Post and the $220G shakedown - Page Six writer wanted $$$ to stop inaccurate coverage (April 7, 2006) from www.nydailynews.com

A New York Post Page Six staffer solicited $220,000 from a high-profile billionaire in return for a year's "protection" against inaccurate and unflattering items about him in the gossip page, the Daily News has learned.

In two 90-minute meetings, characterized by a shocking breach of ethics, Jared Paul Stern, a fixture on the city's gossip scene who also edited Page Six The Magazine, asked for a series of payments from Ron Burkle, the managing partner of Yucaipa Cos., a conglomerate with interests in supermarkets, celebrity clothing lines, and media.
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No, I don't condone it. There's zero excuse or reason for it. In fact, if I'd been in the position of having to deal with it, I'd have been pretty brutal in my actions.

I'm thankful that I've never personally been in proximity to such behavior, and I'd rather gut myself than even think of engaging in anything with the faintest whiff of such a stench.

While there will be plenty of people ready to cite this as another example of the rot in the "mainstream media," I'd reply that it shows why the rest of us keep doing it cleaner and better and ethically.