Chris Matthews Ethics Breach: Interviews Daughter But Does Not Tell Viewers

Chris Matthews apparently interviewed his daughter Caroline before the debates on "Hardball" but failed to tell his viewers of his relationship with her, FishbowlDC reported yesterday. This is a Journalism 101 breach of ethics.

One tipster told FishbowlDC that "Matthews, at the asking of his daughter, instructed the producers not to name her."

The reason this is a breech of ethics is that Matthews has a conflict of interest. His daughter had a political point to make about an organization she is a member of. Its web site was promoted during the interview. The interview under normal circumstances, while quite soft and ordinary, would have been fine, but his viewers deserve to know that she was his daughter appearing on his show to promote her political point of view.