Now, I’m not a journalist, but I think I can identify a crisis of journalistic ethics when I see it.

I heard that snort of derision from plenty of Badger Herald readers who thought, “He’s got that right, no journalism in sight in this column,” upon reading the first sentence here. Like it or not, I’ve written for The Badger Herald going on five years now, and I’ve picked up some things along the way.

For instance, if I were getting paid to express my opinions, I would tell you. I’ve been clear when I write about a program I work with that I do indeed have an affiliation. I’ve been, in the interest of honesty and disclosure, as open as I can be with you, the dear reader.

Unfortunately, one conservative commentator couldn’t find his ethics when the Department of Education came calling.

If you aren’t familiar with the Armstrong Williams dust-up, here’s a quick refresher.

Armstrong Williams is an African-American commentator, talk show talking-head regular, consultant and syndicated television show host. Since African-American conservative commentators are relatively scarce and any chance to make Republicans look less like angry white men and more inclusive is seized, Armstrong Williams has done very well for himself.

Then he very nearly broke the law, ruined his journalistic reputation and took a quarter of a million of your tax dollars to support the Bush administration in a partisan and undisclosed manner.

A PR firm, Ketchum Inc., was hired by the Department of Education to tout its disastrous No Child Left Behind educational reform package. Ketchum has previously done work for the U.S. government in promoting programs such as the new Medicaid aid package, and has been reprimanded by the Government Accountability Office for doing so.

Ketchum took $241,000 of its $1 million and gave it to Williams to promote NCLB on his television show, in his regularly printed opinion columns and when he went on the air for cable news shows. All of which Williams did enthusiastically and frequently and only once disclosing the contract on his television show, but never anywhere else.

This isn’t even the first time Williams has acted unethically. In 1996, Williams allowed a front group for the tobacco industry to use an hour of airtime bashing the FDA for limiting the advertisements of the tobacco industry to children. Seeing as how African-Americans are targeted more frequently than any other minority group for smoking, this was a particularly low moment for a man who claims to be a voice for his race.

The fallout has been ugly. The National Association of Black Journalists urged all papers carrying him to drop his column immediately (a few have fallen suit), his syndicated show was canceled in one TV market and he received the widespread derision of the journalistic community.

Armstrong subsequently apologized and that’s all you’re going to get out of him. He says he will never take another government contract like that again, but he won’t be returning the money he earned on this one any time soon.

The promotion of government programs through pseudo-journalistic means is propaganda, hidden as PR work. Williams obviously didn’t notice the ethical line he blurred and then crossed.

Nobody has come to his defense. Conservative commentators are furious that someone they need and trusted was so whorish in his principles (Michelle Malkin’s words, not mine). Liberal commentators see it as just another situation where politics and winning trumps ethics and principles in the Bush administration.

The closest anyone came to Williams defense was The Wall Street Journal, which tried to link two prominent bloggers to the Dean campaign. This transparent misdirection didn’t stick. The two bloggers (heads of Daily Kos and MyDD) both fully disclosed on their websites the work they were doing for Dean, or quit blogging entirely. The attempt to divert attention was unsuccessful (except, perhaps, in the blogosphere, where an enormous debate erupted).

Williams sold his integrity down the river for a handful of silver and will never get it back.

The bigger story is that the Bush Administration sees fit to spend your tax dollars buying off journalists. Williams hinted to writer David Corn there were others like him. If there are, they better start revealing themselves, or the self-sustaining world of punditry may lose all credibility.

Since they’ve let the likes of myself in, it may be too late to save commentary from itself, but at least my views are my own. On the other hand, I live off student loans, so they can be yours for your best offer.

Rob Deters ([email protected]) is a third-year law student.