Having signed the open letter to MEAA’s head Chris Warren criticising the union’s decision to allow Exxon’s sponsorship of the Walkleys, I received an email on Sunday from Warren where he again presented his “position with regards to ExxonMobil’s sponsorship of the Walkley Media Conference”.

His argument made three points. First, that the sponsorship did not breach the Alliance code of ethics. Secondly, that he is “confident that accepting ExxonMobil as a sponsor does not compromise our integrity nor our standards”. And finally, that while ExxonMobil clearly wants to be associated with journalistic excellence, “they have no influence — none whatsoever — in the editorial content of the conference”.

I don’t accept that Warren is correct in any of those arguments. Exxon has a track record of public lies, private funding of climate denier groups and a murky involvement in militarising regions around its extractive business. Warren is either disingenuous or naive to believe a close financial relationship with such a company would not compromise MEAA’s integrity or standards.

The fact that he raises the prospect that “Exxon would have no influence — none whatsoever — in the editorial content of the conference”, demonstrates that he misses the main reason behind our call to cancel their sponsorship arrangement.

As a former AFR journalist who spent many a happy hour writing the regular Saturday’s AFR column, “A Word From Our Sponsor”, I can assure you Exxon knows exactly what it is getting for its sponsorship dollars.

It is not the company’s ability to manipulate either the attending journalists or the editorial content of the conference that should be MEAA’s primary concern. It is the fact that the company is buying an association with the branding of MEAA and with the Walkleys that should concern every journalist concerned about the integrity of their trade.

MEAA may feel like an endangered species, but to the broader public unions are still seen as organisations that represent the interests of the little guy and embody principles like equity and fairness. The Walkleys are seen as embodying the best Australian journalism has to offer in courage, creativity and intelligence — not bad branding when you think about it.

Exxon is not a charity. It is sponsoring this conference because it will get a very good return on its money. The nature of a sponsorship is like any relationship. Both parties are transformed by the contact. Warren is kidding himself — and attempting to kid everyone else — if he thinks forming a relationship with an ethically challenged company such as Exxon won’t damage MEAA or the Walkleys’ public reputation. And unfortunately, reputations take a lot of time and money to repair — just ask Exxon.