By Alexis Papachelas

As I listened to colleagues criticizing Culture Minister Michalis Liapis for his controversial trip or politicians for receiving gifts from Siemens, I wondered when we all became so very British about the propriety of certain behaviors.

I wonder how many of us journalists practice what we preach with such piety on our nightly television bulletins or in our columns.

To be quite frank, isn’t there a conflict of interests when we accept “gifts” from individuals and companies whom we cover as journalists or when we go on luxury trips at the expense of the state or some big company? What about when a journalist covers a certain area and also works at the press office of the minister responsible? Isn’t there a conflict?

I can still remember the shock of a foreign colleague who visited the offices of a Greek newspaper at Christmas a few years ago and saw presents piled beside every desk. He explained that in his country, journalists are obliged to either return the gifts or donate them to charity.

Now, you may argue that this is just peanuts, and you may be right. Over the past few years though, we have seen the growth of a journalist jet set, an elite that is getting uncomfortably close to a section of the business world which basically has learned to live off the state.

And it is only natural for the average citizen to wonder why journalists can hop on and off private yachts and helicopters without having to apologize when their job is to comment on the affairs of their hosts. This is merely the result of a long tradition of some journalists living off well-established business families, only today it is becoming exceedingly kitsch.

No one is saying that journalists should be saints. But the least we can do is exercise more care with our “holier than thou” preaching lest we get struck by lighting.