Media Mentions

"It’s likely too late in this election cycle to expect campaigns to start disclosing their AI practices. [...] Voters can’t rely on the election information that comes to their mailboxes, inboxes and social media platforms to be free of technological manipulation. They need to take note of who has funded the distribution of such materials and look for obvious signs of AI use in images, such as missing fingers or mismatched earrings. Voters should know the source of information they are consuming, how it was vetted and how it is being shared. All of this will contribute to more information literacy, which, along with critical thinking, is a skill voters will need to fill out their ballots this fall."

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, and Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, published by the Los Angeles Times.

“The conflict-of-interest issue is one of the more obvious concerns in this appointment, with SpaceX having government contracts and Tesla benefiting from federal tax credits,” said Ann Skeet, a senior director at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. “That’s just what happens if Musk is in a position of power in a government agency.”

Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by The New York Times.

Reported by iNewsSource.org, John Pelissero, the director of government ethics said it was unclear if Maienschein as a city attorney would have a conflict overseeing litigation against SDCERS.

Still, he said it would be best if Maienschein never put himself in a position where that posed a conflict. 

“But to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, the city attorney could recuse himself from any involvement in the litigation and assign the case to a deputy,” Pelissero said in an email. “That would help with the optics of the situation in the eyes of the public. 

“By doing so, the city attorney would be demonstrating that he places the public interest as his primary concern and not any private or financial interest of his own.”

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by iNewsSource.org.

Host Yumi Wilson discusses ethics and the future development of large language models (LLMs) with Subramaniam (Subbu) Vincent, Ethics Center director, journalism and media ethics. Together they explore how technology is reshaping journalism, online advertising, and the balance between ethics and revenue.

Subbu Vincent, director, journalism and media ethics, interviewed for the AI and Journalism Podcast with Yumi Wilson.

Politico reports, "Trump’s eldest sons are gearing up to launch a new cryptocurrency venture called World Liberty Financial, which is already receiving a big social media boost from their father. Government ethics watchdogs say the project could create a conflict of interest if Trump returns to the White House next year."

“This does present a strong possibility of a conflict of interest,” said John P. Pelissero, the director of government ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. “Doing anything to promote crypto so it might benefit his sons’ future business is a problem.”

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by Politico, and republished by Yahoo!News, International Business Times, DailyCoin, and others.

"A fundamental question in the realm of leadership ethics is whether or not the leader is actually upholding the interest of the people they are charged with representing. So in the government’s case, they have an obligation to the common good. To make sure that information that’s in the public domain –in this case about COVID-19 vaccines during a global pandemic – is accurate and that it’s accessible for people."

Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, interviewed by KTVU Fox 2.

What's the difference between a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4)?

CNN Underscored says, "choosing between a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4) depends on your organization’s primary goals and activities."

Is the organization a charitable, education, or religious organization dependent on on tax-deductible donations? Or does the organization engage in significant lobbying or political activities?

“Some organizations use both kinds of structures to take advantage of the benefits of each,” noted Ethics Center Fellow, Joan Harrington.

Joan Harrington, fellow, quoted by CNN Underscored.

Calvert’s office admits that the congressman has a history of using the “499 loophole” to send taxpayer-funded mailings during pre-election blackout periods. While the practice is not against the rules, is it ethical?

“No, it’s not ethical,” said John Pelissero, director, government ethics. “The real ethical problem is one of the optics of this. He’s clearly following the letter of the law, but in a way that says he’s going to find a way around the intent of the law.”

John Pelissero, director, government ethics quoted by the Coachella Valley Independent.