Revelations that Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes had taken money from local branches of the Republican Party -- which followed his recent criticism of JournoList as an “online clique of liberal journalists” -- drew sharp critiques from numerous journalism ethics experts and news veterans.

Longtime news ethicists said both his GOP income and his hypocrisy for criticizing others for alleged political leanings are improper.

“Fred Barnes is unwise in his criticism of other journalists given his own actions. It is disingenuous for him to chastise journalists he characterizes as members of a liberal team, thereby questioning their professional integrity, when he, himself, has been paid for speaking to partisan political groups,” said Bob Steele, a longtime ethics instructor at The Poynter Institute. “Barnes is, in essence, wearing the jersey of those Republican teams. That alone raises questions about his journalistic independence. It certainly undermines his credibility as a critic of other journalists.”

The uproar began when Barnes wrote an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal on July 22 that criticized the members of the disbanded JournoList listserv:

“Until JournoList came along, liberal journalists were rarely part of a team. Neither are conservative journalists today, so far as I know. If there's a team, no one has asked me to join. As a conservative, I normally write more favorably about Republicans than Democrats and I routinely treat conservative ideas as superior to liberal ones. But I've never been part of a discussion with conservative writers about how we could most help the Republican or the conservative team.”

But last week, Joe Conason at Salon.com revealed that Barnes had taken money for paid appearances at least three times in recent years from local Republican Party groups:

“This assertion of political purity struck me as false, coming from a journalist who has appeared repeatedly as a speaker at Republican Party events across the country -- a breach of the political boundaries of 'traditional journalism' that few, if any, of the writers on Journolist, for example, would ever contemplate."

Barnes' office said he was unavailable for comment Monday.

Other longtime journalism observers and ethics experts said Barnes' hypocrisy is clear.

“Fred Barnes does lean to the right and his opinions are on the right,” says Bill Kovach, founding chair of the Committee of Concerned Journalists and a former longtime New York Times editor. “If he is going to take money from a political party he ought to note that.”

Kovach adds: “It's distasteful. If you are going to criticize people for doing what you do, you should say, 'I know because I do it myself.'”

Pam Fine, a former managing editor for The Indianapolis Star and The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis -- and currently a journalism instructor at the University of Kansas -- agreed.

“It's a basic journalistic tenet that if you don't want to be accused of bias, don't take sides,” she told me. “That means you shouldn't take money from political groups or other organizations with clearly partisan views ... I don't think Barnes' transgression was that he made speeches on behalf of Republicans, although I do think it's bad form for anyone who works for a news organization to do so. What I agree with is that he underplayed the degree to which he's been involved with the Republican Party. Bottom line: If you live in a glass house, show everybody the color of your underwear.”

Mike Fancher, former executive editor of The Seattle Times and a former American Society of News Editors ethics committee chair, called Barnes' column “ingenuous at best.”

“Taking money from political parties, giving speeches to people you write about should be considered inappropriate,” he added. “At the very least, there ought to be a fuller disclosure.”

Andy Schotz, ethics committee chair of the Society of Professional Journalists, also found the behavior unacceptable.

“There is something to that,” Schotz said of the hypocrisy. “If he is going to accuse them of having a bias, he opens himself up to questions by going to speak to a group and accepting their money.”

Others focused primarily on Barnes accepting money for appearances before the party he reports on.

“I think opinion journalists, bloggers, and editorial writers would be better off not taking money from anyone they are writing about or opining about,” said Byron Calame, retired public editor of The New York Times and a former longtime editor at The Wall Street Journal. “I am of the school that you shouldn't take money from anyone you cover.”

PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler echoed that view: “Taking money for anything from a political organization should be absolutely forbidden. If you don't know that, you should be in another business.”