Journalism has an elaborate code of ethics, but most people outside of journalism don’t know that, and that’s a problem. Sorry to "a thread" at you, but: a thread.

I spoke with a group of MDs who also have MBAs or PhDs and who work in hospital administration or public health or some other big-shot positions. They were in town for a workshop on how Washington works.

Educated, middle-aged, inquisitive people who told me they have been reading newspapers their whole lives. These were some of their questions.

“How much do advertisers influence your coverage?” Um, not at all. “Seriously, how much.” Seriously, not at all. The advertising department has nothing to do with the news department. We don’t know what ads they’re selling and they don’t know what stories we’re writing.

“How much does your owner influence your coverage?” Not at all. This isn’t the case at some news organizations, especially TV news, but major newspapers are not mouthpieces for their owners. Wonder where they got that idea.