My view might not be representative of every person in the journalism industry, but I believe that each journalist should hold themselves to a strong personal c

My view might not be representative of every person in the journalism industry, but I believe that each journalist should hold themselves to a strong personal code of ethics; principles aside, there are reasons of self-interest too. Journalism work is low-paying and scarce today, relative to how it has been in the past. If a a person just wants to make money, they could move into marketing (especially copywriting), public relations, market research, or change fields entirely. So, a person who chooses to be a journalist is likely doing so for non-financial reasons. These might be a want to serve their community; a wish to become famous for good work; or just because they like the day-to-day work. Accepting payment for article influence runs counter to a journalist's motivations for staying in the low-paying line of work (they aren't serving the community; it's bad for personal reputation; and it makes it harder to keep doing journalism work, if the word gets out). It makes sense for ethics to go far down, out of pragmatism more than idealism (though I also recognize that a person having a bad day/week might impulsively compromise on their integrity, or may not have thought about the consequences in advance).