You are the chief editor of a large metropolitan daily newspaper. One of your reporters is caught fabricating sources and making up facts. How do you handle the situation, from disciplining the reporter to explaining it to your readers?
When it comes to reporting the news, there is an obligation to the public to report the news as factually as possible. Whether the news is being reported on television, on the various internet sites, a blog, or a newspaper, being credible and ethical is a must. Being a long-time source of traditional media delivery, there are already inherent difficulties in attempting to keep up with the times and stay in the forefront as a source the people will come to for their news. When a reporter is fabricating sources and making up facts, it could jeopardize the credibility of the newspaper and could cause its readers to go to other sources for their news. The first thing I would do is fire the reporter. This is a serious offense and extreme discipline is necessary. This action will also aid in maintaining credibility with the public. My next step would be to print a retraction for those stories that I know to have been falsified. I would also include the correct facts of the story as it should have been written in the first place.
Alongside the retractions I will post a story stating that it had come to my attention that, due to an error, some facts in an unknown amount of stories may not have been accurate. I would pledge my own time to review the stories that may have been affected and check those facts myself and repost any inaccuracies. Although this situation could have some serious, negative repercussions, by being as honest as I am legally allowed to be and by promising the public to check all of the past stories, I am showing the people that I am being ethical and accountable and that I take my role to deliver accurate and relevant news seriously.
I am not allowed to divulge any information regarding the reporter and the subsequent end to his or her employment. I cannot even give his or her name to the public. I also cannot go into detail about this with the reporter’s co-workers and should be careful with anything I write about this situation in emails or my blog due to legal ramifications should someone see it and decide to sue me and the newspaper.
I have no choice but to check the facts myself, though the public will not know this, due to there being no budget to hire anyone to do this for me. Where a century ago, they used to be the only source of news, newspapers have been struggling financially since the internet came along as society seems to want up to the minute news. I will assemble a small group of preliminary fact finders from the pool of unpaid interns. I can give the interns stories to go through as if they were writing it themselves, checking the sources and the facts. Once they finish, they will bring their findings to me and I will go through each of them making sure that nothing has been missed. All internet sources should be checked for accuracy since it is so easy for anyone to post what they call news. Though the internet is a good source for up to the minute news, not all internet news can be considered a credible source.
Part Two
So that society can connect with a story and so the story will gain mass appeal, producers will create movies and television shows that reflect society. Many will make movies and shows that are primarily about one culture or race of people. A large percentage of those movies and shows will represent the extremes of those cultures or races. The producers make shows and movies like this because they want the people watching to be able to say, “I know someone like that!” This is how they get viewers. Large amounts of viewers mean big advertising and box office dollars for the producers. Many people argue that those shows and movies are not realistic reflections of culture, though many others will disagree.
Electronic
