Several business news veterans said the planned appearance by FOX News host John Stossel at a paid event for a non-profit organization with heavy ties to the energy industry raises concerns about ethics and conflict of interest.

Stossel, the longtime consumer affairs journalist, is appearing at a June 4 event for the Institute for Energy Research.

The institute, which has recently been cited by FOX and has representatives who appear on the news channel, would not say if they are paying Stossel. But they are clearly making money off of the event, with tickets going for up to $7,500 for four.

This follows last week's uproar over Sean Hannity planning to broadcast his show from a paid Tea Party event, a plan that Fox officials canceled.

“It is clearly a conflict of interest and certainly a potential conflict of interest,” Rob Reuterman, president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and a former Rocky Mountain News business editor, said about Stossel's event. “They should probably not allow it. He is going to go back and report on energy. How do you take him as a credible source?”

For Kevin Hall, national economics correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, the appearance at such events is usually a bad idea. “We are supposed to be objective filters,” he said. “I have a hard time when reporters appear at trade groups. Even if you are not taking money, you are appearing there. That is odd.”

Marty Wolk, executive business editor of MSNBC.com, said he would have concerns if one of his reporters came to him with such a plan: “When you appear at an event like that, you should do it in an appropriate capacity and not in a capacity where it can be seen as advocating a point of view.”

Otis Sanford, president of Associated Press Managing Editors, agreed: “As journalists, we have to be clear and be careful about our participation in ventures like this. The one thing we have to rely on is our transparency. We have to be careful about lending our name and our support to things like that.”