It may sound the stuff of political thrillers or salacious television movies, but it does happen. Sometimes the relationships are much more than one-and-done. For that reason, most news publications have rules built into their systems that reporters are expected to follow. In the case of the New York Times, reporters are required to notify a responsible newsroom manager about such involvements immediately. The parties meet, and the resolution depends on each situation.
The Raymond Hernandez case
Raymond Hernandez is a former political journalist for The New York Times.
In 2009, Raymond Hernandez, a Washington D.C.-based reporter for the Times, confirmed he was in a relationship with a Congressional spokeswoman. She worked for a Congressman Hernandez had on his beat. The Times reported it had been aware of the relationship from the beginning. Hernandez was dating Shrita Sterlin, the communications director for Rep. Edolphus Towns, a Democrat representing parts of Brooklyn including Bedford-Stuyvesant and Fort Greene. As soon as Hernandez reported the relationship, paper management and Hernandez sat down and worked out a solution. He kept reporting on every other Congressman on his list but was to have nothing to do with stories about Towns.
No one ever said when the relationship started, but up until 2008, Hernandez wrote several stories about Towns — some pretty hard-hitting. Then they stopped. The Times continued to report on Towns. Just nothing from Hernandez.
It happens more than the industry admits
Hernandez is not a singular case.
Laura Foreman reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer on a Pennsylvania state senator while in a sexual relationship with him. She was transferred from her DC bureau job for having done so.
Todd Purdum, former White House correspondent, married Bill Clinton's White House spokesperson Dee Dee Myers.
Jason DeParle, a DC correspondent, married Nancy-Ann Min, a White House staffer.
Bernard Weintraub, longtime Hollywood reporter, dated Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures chief.
Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter behind The Newsroom and The West Wing, dated Maureen Dowd of The New York Times.
The list keeps going. Examples abound, and that should not be surprising — relationships are forged between people who work together. Spend enough time with anyone and you will either build some form of attraction or grow to tolerate them.
Why this matters for the institution
When doing your job has inherent conflicts of interest with a romantic or sexual relationship, that becomes a problem. Not just for the two people involved. For their employers. And in the case of reporters — for the audience reading what they have to say.
The Times and other publishers may have policies in place, but politics, big government, and big corporations don't operate on only one level. The tentacle connections to hundreds of other stories are not always as simple to unwind as just not reporting on one person.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
