Ethics prevent journalists from accepting free trips, but maybe there’s another way

To junket? Or not to junket?

It’s a question that plagues many arts and culture (and travel) journalists for our whole careers. Junkets are ethically fraught opportunities for free travel that have popped up in my inbox many times in my 20-year career as a freelance culture journalist. Although less frequent post-pandemic, I’ve turned down train tickets from theater companies, invites from embassies and most often, trips to arts festivals in exchange for coverage. 

Each time, I have to explain that outlets like The Globe and Mail, The New York Times and Washington Post rarely allow journalists to accept paid travel, and certainly don’t allow quid-pro-quo exchanges of flights and hotel rooms for favorable coverage. What’s more, the Times asks its freelancers to abide by those guidelines even when on assignment for other outlets, and even though the Times rarely covers our expenses.

Dance in Israel, music in Spain, new theater on the coast of Ireland. I have turned down some fabulous junkets over the years, each time losing an opportunity to learn more about art forms and the cultures they emerge from. 

A new model = empowered trips 

Many magazines and trade publications allow journalists to accept junkets, and as the industry continues to contract, some outlets have relaxed their standards. That’s why the model hasn’t changed. But what if it did? What if festivals with marketing budgets took that money and instead created educational opportunities, curated community collaborations and put long-term relationships ahead of short-term publicity? 

Those are, not incidentally, the three goals of Critics in Columbia: True/False Edition, a residency for five film journalists that will coincide with the central Missouri’s famed documentary film festival. Over four days in early March, critics chosen from the application pool will meet with more than 80 Mizzou students who are reviewing films and concerts for The Maneater. They will also provide guidance and training in a free workshop for local high school students, to amp up coverage for local new outlets without staff arts journalists. They’ll also receive a stipend that covers meals and justifies their time, especially for those taking time off from de rigueur freelance work. 

Additional coverage of True/False is welcome, but entirely optional, because the whole point is eliminating the ethically questionable quid pro quo. (Our deadline is Feb. 9. Tell any film journalists you know to apply!)

I started dreaming up this residency within a week of arriving in Columbia to begin my yearlong fellowship at Reynolds Journalism Institute. On day four, I met a True/False board member who asked me to meet with executive director Andrea Loque Karam. Which I did, and liked her immediately. She was new to the festival, however, and we were both surprised to learn that True/False offers junkets by partnering with the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. 

Maneater student reviewers, meanwhile, had been bravely attempting to see every movie without getting to meet out-of-town critics, and no journalists were dropping by Camp True/False, a free film-focused opportunity for local high school kids. 

Critics in Columbia: True/False Edition aims to rectify that and experiment with the ideal of critic’s residencies to amplify arts coverage. Ideally, True/False and other like minded festivals can fundraise around replacing junkets with a critics’ residency. There’s nothing ethically problematic with a local chamber of commerce (or corporate sponsor, or person of means) donating money to a journalism school, which then invites visiting journalists for a festival, as long as the funder takes a step back. 

No journalism school? No problem. Give the money to a local community foundation or arts alliance who can hire a qualified journalist to serve as a neutral curator.

The festival (and its marketers) may have to sacrifice immediate national or international earned media that producers, gallerists, etc. want most. I’m sensitive to that. But what can they gain?

• A broader pool of guest journalists
• Higher quality local coverage
• Stronger community engagement
• Educational experiences for students
• Social media buzz
• Valuable recognition down the pike, especially for the artists who impress guest critics at the festival, and get coverage later 

There’s a default tendency to think of innovation in journalism through the lens of technology. But not everyone has to be Johannes Guttenberg, especially when it comes to arts journalism. Sometimes innovation comes from looking at a longstanding problem, and rearranging the typeface until everything makes more sense. That’s what I’d love to see happen with junkets, one arts festival at a time.

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Cite this article

Ritzel, Rebecca (2026, Feb. 6). Taking the road less traveled. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/taking-the-road-less-traveled/