This is from Thunderbird, a journal published by students from the department of journalism of University of British Columbia, Canada. I think it was published in 2003. --------
Dont Shoot the Reporter Angele Yanor's website Two incidents of plagiarism have hit Canadian newspapers in the past month. Its better late than never for Canadas media outlets to jump aboard the newsroom reform train. journalism also need to consider the possibility of extenuating circumstances, pointing to medical problems and a stressful period in the reporters otherwise stellar career. Other journalists have also cited mitigating factors like workplace stress, racism, substance abuse and editorial grey areas. Vancouver Sun columnist Angele Yanor claimed to operate in one such grey area, writing a pseudo-truthful, edgy-fluffy column she dubbed chick lit. In a statement on her website (www.angeleyanor.com), Yanor defended herself simply by denying she was doing journalism in the first place. "For the record, I have never called myself a journalist. I write chick lit. My articles have always had an element of fiction. Most of my readers accepted this. To make sweeping comparisons of journalistic plagiarism seems a bit unfair." Jayson Blairs best-selling book about his four years at the New York Times - provocatively titled Burning Down My Masters House (McArthur & Co.) - points to substance abuse and a hyper-competitive newsroom as factors contributing to his addictions and depression. This wasn't the first time this happened and it won't be the last time. It's going to happen again, Blair told Editor & Publisher magazine. Newsroom reform has been a high priority for U.S. newspapers wanting to escape the ripple-effect of the Blair case. At the Times, changes in management, the addition of public and standards editors, and a new policy on anonymous sources have been widely applauded, if not always followed to the letter. The Boston Globe and Washington Post have followed suit with their own increasingly stringent policies. In Canada, however, newsrooms have watched the events to the South with much interest but perhaps too little action. Canadian newsrooms sometimes operate with an ethics of crisis, waiting for the problem to hit home before responding, says UBC School of Journalism ethics professor, Stephen Ward. The CBCs David Bazay is one of only four media ombuds left in Canada. Readers, listeners and viewers of all media outlets, he says, should have the opportunity to hold programmers accountable. Though the Southam papers were among the pioneers in creating positions for ombudsmen, Bazay says they all fell by the wayside during cost-cutting exercises. Today only one major Canadian daily, The Toronto Star, has an ombudsman. Yet Ward says the Canadian public should not conclude that Canadian newspapers are filled with lies. Editors are not that stupid, and journalists are not that unethical. But without policies and structures to cope with these problems, he says, thats just what the public will start believing. If somebody lies to you once, twice, by the third time, you start to wonder, Is there anything this persons telling me thats true? In the days following the discovery of Yanors fabrication, the Vancouver Sun hurried to strike an ethics committee to review editing procedures and prevent future fabrications. I think there was a positive side in it in that it was handled and will get to be in the forefront of ethical reviews in this country, I hope, says Editor-in-Chief Patricia Graham. Ward says Canadian news organizations should begin their own processes of change by defining what they mean by fabrication and plagiarism, and forming new policies to deal with these and the anonymous sources that often act as a smoke-screen for fabricated information. Ward also recommends accountability audits periodically calling sources to verify quotes. This method has gained widespread popularity - even Jayson Blair endorses it - and has been recently instituted by newspapers such as the Albuquerque Journal. But in an industry based on writer-editor trust, many newspapers are still looking for balanced policies that stop short of being dictatorial. We use mostly freelance writers, and we have to trust them to a certain extent, says Ian Hanington, Managing Editor of the Georgia Straight. Though Hanington says the Straight has excellent editors who are especially experienced in seeing things that raise red flags, further regulation is difficult. Graham says the Suns pre-Yanor editing process was already thorough. But the procedure doesnt assume that people are submitting plagiarized or fabricated material. Of course, that certainly wasnt what [Yanor] was asked to do. At the Toronto Star, Seller says the Yelaja incident has prompted healthy discussion in the newsroom where plagiarism has always been taken very seriously. Since Seller became ombudsman in 1992, several incidents have been reported and dealt with, although no other involved a full-time staffer. In the 1980s, the Star dealt with more serious cases. A Washington bureau chief took three paragraphs from a monthly magazine, and lost his column as a result of the incident. Book reviewer Ken Adachi was caught twice borrowing material from other writers' work, and when he was fired, took his own life. The newspaper will reissue the policy guidelines to all staff members in the wake of the recent incident. But in addition to editorial process reforms, Ward says editors must send the right message to writers: Lets write things of interest to the public, but lets get it right and verify. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097
