Mayhill Fowler Takes On The Obama Campaign

In 2008, Mayhill Fowler made her journalist debut writing for the Huffington Post’s Off the Bus feature, which called for everyday citizens to report on the election. Not too long after she began writing for the publication did Fowler experience what it was like to be a true journalist – in every way. 

James Rainey documented for the Los Angeles Times the events that unfolded as Fowler began her journey through journalism. 

Fowler attended the Pacific Heights fundraiser, at which Barack Obama made comments about small-town Americans that Fowler later exposed and criticized. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh my God, he is confirming to my fellow Californians the worst stereotypes they have of small-town America.’ I was just dismayed,” Fowler said. When she brought the story to the Huffington Post, the Off the Bus project director Amanda Michel and other editors confirmed the story and were all for posting it. 

After publishing the story, Fowler felt the full wrath of an outraged public. Many criticized Fowler and the Huffington Post for publishing an unethically written story. People accused Fowler of being biased against Obama and writing this as a way to tear him down. 

This incident raises a lot of questions about ethical reporting. Obama made these comments during a “closed press” session, at which many reporters were recording him. Fowler clearly wasn’t trying to hurt Obama’s campaign, as she has revealed evidence of her support for him, so the question is not about her intentions, rather her methods. Was it ok for her to record and publish the things said during the closed session? Unless the authorities at the conference specifically instructed reporters not to record or publish the conference, I don’t see an ethical issue with what Fowler did.