OUTPUT

My mother is a consultant. She's also a star feature writer who can turn meaningful copy around quicker than you can say spectrophotometer. I've watched in fascination these past years as she has advised manufacturers and organisations of all shapes and sizes how to progress, but always been relieved to see that her paid work with these has never found its way into her copy – much of which has been turned in to me in my capacity as an editor or publisher rather than as her son. 

It's a delicate path that she treads, but she keeps the two things separate. She doesn't sell; she consults, which means applying her epic knowledge of a complex industry to a process of procurement or reorganisation. She retains an ethical approach with her journalist hat on, and doesn't tend to trash products or services – rather, she identifies the pros and cons and what is in the pipeline, or will drive change.

My parent or not, she's an example of someone who balances the consultant/journalist role admirably. But there are others who are less scrupulous. In the print sector, there is one notorious character who publicly rubbishes any printer from the manufacturers that refuse to pay him a monthly stipend. Those who pay are scared of his SEO, and those who don't are enraged but can prove nothing. Other consultants find his behaviour abhorrent as it drags their job title through the mud. There's another, in the digital signage world, who runs a large and influential 'editorial' outfit. He has a reputation for being particularly savage and outspoken – not remotely criminal qualities in a journalist, especially one who is particularly knowledgeable. But the savagery is reserved primarily for those for whom he does not work.

In both cases the individuals claim to be providing independent authoritative information to their readership. In both, they fail to declare their interests, and in so doing they defame other companies and mislead their readers.

Hang on a second, I hear you say. Doesn't the Output team also advise on press relations and marketing communications? Yes, we do; our comms consultancy, Line 12, sits alongside our publishing company and within the same office. We've never hidden that and never intend to. Our clients never receive special treatment on the site – neither do our advertisers, for that matter – and we don't slate their competition, either.

Each publication has its own editorial voice, and we turn to the voice we like to hear because it informs, educates or challenges us. It is a relationship based on a funny sort of trust, especially in the world of professional publications, many of which aim to demystify industry standards of jargon and marketing-speak to create an engaging proposition. It undermines the reputation of all journalists, editors and consultants when characters like these are allowed to run amok unchallenged.

And to answer my title question: a journalist is not a journalist when they're trying to sell you something other than their qualified opinion.