A week and a half ago Mari posted a great piece about Wal-Mart’s recent underwriting of NPR. Then I wrote on San Diego Blog about a recent survey by KPBS on San Diegans’ perception of Wal-Mart. It has inspired some interesting comments.

This morning I get my weekly KPBS newsletter in my inbox and see a fascinating story by host Tom Fudge about his show last week on Wal-Mart in San Diego. It seems Fudge was unaware that Wal-Mart was helping pay his salary.

Is a news program like These Days obligated to tell its listeners that one of its shows involves a financial supporter of the station? I don’t think so. If a company supports KPBS programming our announcers read credits to the company during station breaks. So it’s not like we’re trying to keep it secret.

There are many people and many companies that support KPBS. Take that information for what you think it’s worth. And judge for yourself whether KPBS news coverage is fair, honest and accurate. But if you don’t mind, I’ll stick to my side of the firewall. I like it here.

KPBS News Director Michael Marcotte really hammers this home as he announced KPBS’s new policy regarding underwriter disclosure:

Both Fudge and Marcotte emphasize that “those disclosures are already abundant in on-air announcements.” While it does seem to be true that on air announcements advertisements are becoming more and more abundant on KPBS, they are also becoming more diverse. Somehow Joan Kroc’s $5 million dollar donation to KPBS and subsequent $200 million dollar donation to NPR has not allowed the station to focus more on journalism and less on underwriting/advertising. So while you are sure to hear about Wal-Mart’s patronage of KPBS many times throughout the day, it’s not guaranteed, nor even likely, that it will be mentioned during the actual show. In fact, it would be interesting to know if the “on air announcement” was read during the Wal-Mart story.

Should, not only KPBS, but journalists at large be forced to disclose their underwriters, sponsors, and benefactors where conflicting interests could exist? Absolutely. That’s journalistic integrity. Just imagine if this blog was underwritten by my corner deli. Shouldn’t I disclose that fact when I do any sort of review or commentary or analysis of the deli’s affect on my neighborhood?

I am worried about KPBS, our only true public radio station (technically KSDS is also a public radio station). I am worried that Tom Fudge refers to it as a “business” and “media company.” I listen religiously to KPBS because I want unbiased, quality journalism about the city I live in. Our local, individual public donations are supposed to allow KPBS to function with such integrity. Not disclosing underwriters during shows with conflicts of interest is a serious step back in maintaining that integrity and I for one will start listening with a much more skeptical ear.

Maybe this is a good time to disclose that Moreno’s mom (MILF!) is an underwriter of this blog and there could be a conflict of interests in any charming comments I make about her. What a fox, that one.