Not the point.
Your mileage obviously varies but, in my opinion, a journalist - or anyone who gets to express themselves on a platform that size - has to be held to a higher standard when it comes to 'expressing their opinion' than a private citizen. Andy Furillo isn't just some schlub on a message board, like you and me. He has a greater responsibility to be objective than you or I do, and he has a greater responsibility to be unbiased than you or I do... at least, when he's on the record.
When you have a platform the size of an Andy Furillo, or an Ailene Voisin, or a Grant Napear, I don't think that you get to say whatever pops into your head, and then hide behind the shield of, "Just my opinion, man." That's why I think that saying that Furillo voicing his opinion is just the same as when you or I do it is disingenuous. Because it's totally not the same.