WaPo Ombudsman on Sports Reporters' gambling on events they cover

"Should sports reporters be allowed to bet on events they cover? Of course not, especially since most sports betting is illegal. But does that extend to a pool, common in many newsrooms and offices?

Reader Bill Sullivan of the District raised the question after a blogger, Sean Jensen of AOL Sports, said he participated in a "high price" pool while covering the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., with renowned Post columnist Tom Boswell; Leonard Shapiro, a former Post staffer who covers golf on contract; and John Feinstein, a best-selling author and Post freelancer.

Sullivan called the pool "disturbing" and said it "would appear to be a deeply serious breach of journalism ethics," especially because "Boswell and Shapiro had criticized athletes for gambling because it has a corrupting influence on the sport.

"Do Post editors condone this sort of conduct -- particularly since the bets were placed on an event the reporters were covering for the paper? How much was wagered and how long has it been going on? How do the reporters justify their moral criticisms of others when they themselves engage in the same illegal behavior?"

The pool is a tradition going back about 25 years in a house rented by Boswell, Shapiro and other sportswriters who cover the Masters, Boswell said. Feinstein joined about 15 years ago. Jensen was the new guy in the house."

• This is more interesting to me in the category of "clubiness" or "in-crowd" of sports writers. These people are only human beings, not Gods, and it's important to see examples of that.

From the Washington Post, 4/15/07, by Deborah Howell, "Did a Betting Pool Cross the Line?"

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