Journalists are committed to the principle of independence, captured in this language in the ethics code of the Society of Professional Journalists: “be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know.” They also should disclose whatever conflicts they can’t avoid.

I don’t believe that the career choices of my children represent any kind of conflict for me, but in the interest of transparency, I am updating my profile on the About MinnPost page to indicate that one of my sons, Elias Kramer, has taken a position as deputy policy director of the gubernatorial campaign of Mark Dayton.

No one else in my family has any political connections (and Laurie and I have not donated to any candidates or other political entities since we launched MinnPost in 2007), but I do also have family members involved in education reform. My oldest son, Matt, is the national president of Teach for America, and his wife, Katie, is director of academic excellence for Charter School Partners here in Minnesota.