Copley columnist Doug Bandow resigned as senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute on Thursday after admitting that he had accepted payments from indicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff for writing articles favorable to his clients.
Even conservatives are appalled
"My view has always been that there are too few journalists left in journalism, and too many columnists with actual or potential conflicts of interest writing for mainstream newspapers," said columnist Cal Thomas, who’s syndicated to nearly 600 papers via Tribune Media Services (TMS).
The conservative commentator told E&P Online that what Bandow did was "a big no-no" that "damages the credibility of everybody" who writes columns.
Bandow said it was a ‘lapse in judgment’
Connie Schultz, the 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner syndicated by Newhouse News Service, added that she’s "appalled" at Bandow’s description of his actions as a "lapse in judgment." She noted that "a lapse suggests a temporary or accidental stumble, while he admits to taking money from Abramoff ’12 to 24 times’ at $2,000 or so a pop. At that rate, it had become a second income."