Ethics takes a holiday: Newsweek, New York Times writers in swag orgy

In these lean times for journalists, the temptation to live large with an all-expenses-paid vacation and some high-grade swag is harder than ever to resist -- even if it means skirting the company ethics policy.

Writers for Newsweek and The New York Times (NYT) were among the 150 guests who enjoyed a free trip to Jamaica last weekend, courtesy of the consumer e-newsletter Thrillist and JetBlue (JBLU), among a host of other sponsors. Those guests received a round-trip flight from JFK International to Montego Bay and two nights at the Iberostar Rose Hall resort, where they had beachfront balcony rooms and personal butlers, and "overstuffed gift bags ... filled with T-shirts, sunglasses" and other goodies, according to this writeup of the weekend by one participant.