Yahoo Grant Sparks Furor Over Ethics
October 3, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
A $1-million grant from Yahoo to a prestigious journalism fellowship program at Stanford University has drawn criticism because of Yahoo’s relationship to the Chinese government, reports The San Francisco Chronicle.
Yahoo donated the money to the John S. Knight Fellowship program last week, and alumni of the program immediately protested that Stanford should not accept it.
At the request of the Chinese government, Yahoo has censored searches, and it also turned over information that led to the arrests of Chinese dissidents, including journalists.
Yahoo has said it had no choice but to comply with the Chinese government’s wishes. And some alumni of the program proposed it accept the money, citing the opportunities it could provide for journalists in oppressed countries.
