NYT columnist's conflict of interest

[lilpup]

Most Detroit auto insiders know that NY Times auto reporter Micheline Maynard wrote a book touting "The End of Detroit" and used her high profile nationwide bully pulpit pretty consistently to bash the US auto companies.

Now another weasel can be added to the list:

Most reporters would love to make $75,000. In a year.

So it set my eyes to blinking when I read that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman got paid that much for a single speech, sponsored last week by the San Francisco Bay Area's clean air district.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...1226938.column