Well, you have media ethics issues and then you have MEDIA ETHICS ISSUES!!! Check out this coverage in the Washington Post, New York Times and ABC News of a French "reporter" who faked interviews with some of the most recognizable names in the world. We don't need another black eye.
The key question here is how journalism maintains its legitimacy when it's undermined from within.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Just Fake It
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3 comments:
Journalists need to remember why they're there, which is to inform the public, to be the eyes and ears for those who can't be there to see and hear for themselves. A journalist's job is not to win the Pulitzer, not to get the best ratings or the best quotes or scoop the competition, and certainly not to fabricate facts as a means to those ambitious ends.
People want informed, honest reporting--well-told--but informed and honest first.
The only assurances to the public are diligent fact-checking and verification of credentials. The public, for better or worse, is pretty forgiving. Wary, but forgiving.
I wonder what is leading to this phenomenon, as clearly Debat is the first journalist to do this, especially in the last couple of years. Glass had a similar little lying problem, and he too wrote about politicians that didn't speak up until the libel hit the fan. It is interesting how those who live in a fish bowl--particularly politicians--avoid calling out lying journalists because of the difficulties built into libel laws for them. This is something that needs to change if you ask me.
*is not the first journalist to do this
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