Ethics in journalism is a murky beast, in which for every case presented the standards and decisions are different from every case before that.
Glenn Proctor, executive editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, delivered this message to journalism students on Wednesday, April 23 in the T. Edward Temple building at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Proctor gave the students of a real-life example he encountered while working at the Richmond Time-Dispatch.
“[The Richmond Times-Dispatch] had someone covering a story in Herndon about a shelter for migrant workers to assemble and find jobs during the day,” Proctor said.
“Well, once the story ran, we got a call from The Washington Post, and we dug up and found that most of the article was made up, and stolen from,” Proctor said.
However, once the paper found out about the plagiarism, the decision to fire the reporter was swift.
“With plagiarism, the consequences for the reporter is not even something you think about,” Proctor said.
In recent years, more and more cases of plagiarism are being found out and ferreted out to the public. Two of the most famous cases involved Jayson Blair with The New York Times and Stephen Glass with The New Republic.
According to Proctor, one of the influences for plagiarizing these stories is the fame that comes with excellent reporting.
“If you have page one A stories, people notice,” Proctor said.
Sundra K. Hominik, a Senior Editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, notes that unlike in the past, fewer editors see your piece and trust that you wouldn't plagiarize.
That trust, however, can be manipulated.
Hominik cited a recent example in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about an e-mail a reporter got from an Iraq War veteran.
The story that the veteran gave to the reporter was so compelling that they wrote the piece and published it, even though they didn't go through all the fact checking channels to verify the story.
“Once the article hit the Internet, we got an e-mail from someone who was in the platoon with the soldier that set us straight,” Hominik said.
“We then talked to his superior officer, and we realized then that this veteran was playing us for a good story and some fame,” Hominik said.
Hominik gave some advice to the students as a good guideline to avoid most ethical dilemmas.
“If it's not germane to the story, then just don't run it,” she said.
Proctor also gave another piece of advice to the students to help their ethical decision making.
“First, worry about reporting well, then worry about the ethics,” Proctor said.
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