I didn't realize that Okrent is limited to 18 months.
dokrent - 1:35 PM ET February 20, 2004 (#11 of 11)
Some people on the staff of The Times have asked me about my outside affiliations, and whether they pose any conflict with my duties as public editor.
It's all pretty straightforward: before officially signing on, I told executive editor Bill Keller, in writing, about all my professional and charitable affiliations. As a freelance contractor, I was not bound by the employee ethics guidelines, but nonetheless wanted to make certain that no conflict was perceived. Given that my tenure here is limited to a term of 18 months, neither Keller nor I felt it reasonable, or necessary, for me to break off from institutions I would expect to be involved with after I leave this position so long as there was no apparent conflict (apparent conflict did leave me to cease doing any consulting work for my former employer, Time Inc., as it was clearly a competitive institution).
I told him that I was a board member of Zinio Inc., a private company involved in the digital distribution of printed matter; that I was a commissioner (and slated, in December, to be named chairman of the commission) of the National Portrait Gallery, a division of the Smithsonian Institution; and that in the summer of 2003 I began discussions with TESSCO Technologies Inc., a wholesaler of wireless telephone equipment, about possibly joining their board (I did so in mid-January).
Consequently, we agreed that should I ever become engaged in an issue (or decline to become engaged in an issue) relating to the wireless telephone industry; the digital distribution industry; art museums in general; the Smithsonian in particular; or any other individual or institution with which I am affiliated, I would disclose this loudly and frequently.
Even though I haven't seen any such issues coming across my screen to date, at the request of a couple staff members let the disclosure begin right here. |
