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My simple question is this. Why does legal journalism here have no disclosure rules at all? A reporter can attend a firm's event, take its hospitality, befriend its partners, and then write admiringly about that same firm, and the reader is never told any of it. And honestly we lawyers are part of the problem. The seniors chasing friendly coverage, the chambers counting column inches, we invited this in ourselves. The juniors with a real practice but no PR budget stay invisible, while the ones who know how to work a camera get all the attention.
I'm not saying every journalist is compromised. Some keep their distance and earn their bylines fairly, and that's exactly the point, you can't tell them apart anymore. So next time you read a flattering piece on some lawyer or firm, just ask yourself, is this reporting or is it placement?