If the ethics of journalists are to be examined as much as possible, it is only through self-policing.  The long-running issue of conflict of interest, especially when writing about topics where one has prior work experience, is usually settled by disclosing the work you have done, and hoping that, through that acknowledgement, one's credibility will remain intact.  However, as is evidenced today by Twitter's outing of national security journalist Joshua Foust as a contractor for the federal government, things can get pretty nasty when someone accuses another of being unethical.

The story begins with Sam Knight of Truthout and the Washington Monthly accusing Joshua Foust, who currently edits web publication Medium's State of Play blog, of conflict of interest stemming from his work as a Defense Department contractor.

Amazing how "journalist" @joshuafoust feels above ethics norms by consistently failing to disclose ties (past, for sure) to DOD contractors.

— Sam Knight (@samknight1) August 22, 2013

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