TV analyst denies bias in coverage of 5th District race

With a competitive congressional race in progress, WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller has covered the Fifth District special election for the nightly news, gone one on one with the candidates for "Keller @ Large" interviews, and dissected the race for WBZ radio.

But until this week, Keller never disclosed to his broadcast audience that his son, Barney, works as the campaign spokesman for the Republican candidate, Jim Ogonowski.

Keller said he used his WBZ website blog to disclose his family connection to Ogonowski's campaign in June, after discussing how to handle the situation with the station's news director. He said he has not given preferential treatment to the Ogonowski campaign because of the tie.

After inquiries from the Globe, Keller mentioned his son's role with the Ogonowski campaign at the end of a Thursday night segment about a WBZ/Survey USA poll that showed Ogonowski trailing Democrat Niki Tsongas by nine percentage points heading into the final weekend.

Several journalism professors told the Globe that Keller appeared to have lapsed in not disclosing his son's role each time he discussed the race and that he should have considered staying out of coverage of the race altogether.

"That's impermissible," said Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism at Columbia University. He called it "a matter of elementary disclosure, to take the time to explain that one is connected."

Lou Ureneck, chairman of the journalism department at Boston University, agreed. Avoiding the appearance of conflict or potential conflict is as important as avoiding actual conflict or bias, he said, "because it goes to the credibility of the news organization."

"Without passing judgment on whether this is a real or perceived conflict, in either case it should be disclosed," Ureneck said.

Jeff Kiernan, WBZ's new news director, agreed with the decision made by Keller and former news director Jennifer Street, who left the station in August, that web disclosure would be enough.

"Jon Keller's credibility and reputation for comprehensive and thorough political analysis is second to none, and Jon has previously disclosed that his son works for Ogonowski," Kiernan, who was traveling, said through a WBZ spokeswoman this week.

As public spokesman for the Ogonowski campaign, Barney Keller, 22, has been paid $1,500 by the campaign every two weeks, according to Ogonowski's public disclosure filings.

Ogonowski campaign manager Dustin Olson said he considered Jon Keller's coverage of the race to be fair. "Frankly, I don't think I would want to ever be asked questions by him," Olson said.

Barney Keller said he wanted to focus on the race, not his family. "This election isn't about me," he said. "This is about Jim Ogonowski."

Jon Keller told the Globe Thursday that his coverage speaks for itself and that he had avoided dealing directly with his son when contacting the Ogonowski campaign. "I challenge anyone to point to anything in my coverage that's even remotely identifiable as bias or unfairness," Keller said. "You know, if people believe in guilt by association, there isn't too much I can do about it, other than what I've done. I know my employers are satisfied."

Dan Kennedy, who teaches journalism at Northeastern University, said he advised Keller in June that the father-son relationship was less problematic than a spousal connection to a campaign. A former Boston Phoenix media critic who befriended Keller when Keller was the political writer for the Phoenix in the early 1990s, Kennedy said conflict and the appearance of conflict are not "one size fits all" situations.

"I think some degree of disclosure would be appropriate, but I don't think he has to go around with a sandwich board that says 'My kid works for Jim Ogonowski' all the time," he said.

Several professors said it was important to deal with apparent or potential conflict, as well as actual bias. "And in a case where you're commenting and a close relative's working for a candidate, you have difficulty in both areas," said Bryce Nelson, a journalism professor who has taught ethics courses at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

Keller said he was unfamiliar with the academic distinction between bias and apparent or possible bias. "I guess I missed a class that day," he said.

Hours after the Globe contacted Keller on Thursday, he took a similarly light approach to the matter when he disclosed the issue at the end of his segment on the Tsongas-Ogonowski matchup that aired during the 11 p.m. news.

"I'll be glad when it's over for a personal reason," Keller said on the air. "My grown son, Barney, has been on the staff of the Ogonowski campaign. I've barely seen him over the summer. Barney, I love ya, I miss ya, please come home. Your mother has a casserole she wants to lay on you."