If I'm understanding you correctly, I think you might be blurring the lines here. A NYT reporter is a journalist, not an expert. They may use experts as sources

If I'm understanding you correctly, I think you might be blurring the lines here. A NYT reporter is a journalist, not an expert. They may use experts as sources for their stories. I agree that it would be a serious breach of ethics for a journalist to take money from Monsanto. It's not the same as an expert receiving funding from industry. That has it's own ethics issues, which I think are the ones you're getting at.