Does journalism have an ethics and metoo problem?

With the whole Nuzzi event, there have been a shocking number of people in journalism defending her. This has led to this professionally published Semafor piece which I honestly find disturbing. There is of course the conflict of interest issue. This can effect reporting and it will lower trust in media.

But there is also the screaming metoo issue. It's pretty clear that members of the industry are pressuring young women to have sex for the sake of a story. Even when people say Nuzzi is in the wrong, they also can't help but mention that it's okay to get tips from powerful people you're not reporting on. If actresses sleeping with Harvey Weinstein in hopes of getting a role is a sign of a toxic industry, then sleeping with people for tips is equally as toxic for journalism.

So I wanted to make this an open discussion. Has this been a longstanding problem? Has this issue been publicly well-known? Do you think it is an issue? What can you do about? And are there any journalists you have good or bad takes on this?

Some choice quotes from the Semaphore piece:

Some British journalists, naturally, have been texting us to ask what the fuss is about. If you’re not sleeping with someone in a position of power, how are you even a journalist?

🤮

Many of Nuzzi’s critics were furious at her over a July 4 story about members of Joe Biden’s inner circle who felt he was too old to run for president. How, these critics ask now, could she have done that story fairly if she had an emotional attachment to a fringe candidate?

And this is where two values of journalism part ways. The obvious defense of that story is that it was true, something few Democrats now contest (though the few that do continue to loudly fill up our email inboxes and Twitter mentions).

Is this actually true? Because based on what I know now, I'm not so sure I trust you. And why can't you try and hold both values at once; people do it in other industries.