Everybody's Doing It: Even More Journalists on U.S. Government Payroll

El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language newspaper owned by the Miami Herald's corporate parent, has been receiving negative attention lately. Two of its reporters and one freelancer were among 10 Miami journalists secretly paid by the U.S. government for appearances on the anti-Castro Radio Marti and TV Marti. El Nuevo Herald fired the reporters, but pointed out that other journalists have, "for many, many years," been paid to participate in Voice of America programs. The paper names David Lightman, the Washington bureau chief for Connecticut's Hartford Courant; Tom M. DeFrank, the head of New York Daily News' Washington office; Helle Dale, formerly opinion page director for the Washington Times; and syndicated columnist Georgie Anne Geyer. In his defense, Lightman said, "In general, I do not cover the topics we're talking about" on VoA's "Issues in the News." But Miami Herald executive editor Tom Fiedler said of Lightman, "He is clearly in the position to assign reporters to cover stories about Washington, to cover the very government he is taking payments from." The Courant reports that Lightman will no longer appear on VoA, to avoid "any question of a conflict" of interest.