Glenn Proctor, executive editor of the Richmond
Times-Dispatch, didn’t hesitate to fire a reporter
for writing a fake news story.
“He was supposed to cover a migrant gathering
place in Northern Virginia,” Proctor said. The
reporter wrote the story, but editors later discovered
the place didn’t exist.
“It was a very easy firing,” Proctor said.
Proctor and Sundra Hominik, a senior editor
for the Times-Dispatch, spoke about ethics in
journalism during a panel discussion April 23 at
the T. Edward Temple Building. The discussion was
sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists
to mark Ethics Week.
In discussing the journalist’s code of ethics,
Hominik cited the first rule: “We want to seek
truth and report it.”
She then led role-playing exercises in which
students were asked to make quick ethical decisions.
Newsrooms across the world face ethical decisions
every day, she said.
“It’s a tough call.”
Proctor reminded students their writing will
face constant scrutiny.
“People criticize us every day for what we put
in the paper,” he said.
Proctor referred to former Washington Post
reporter Janet Cooke as an example of someone
who violated the code of ethics.
In 1981, Cooke wrote a story about an 8-year-old
heroin addict. The story, titled “Jimmy’s World,”
garnered national attention and even won a Pulitzer Prize. When questions arose about Cooke’s
credentials, and community groups wanted to help
Jimmy, the truth came out: Jimmy was fictitious, a
composite character Cooke created for her story.
The Washington Post returned the Pulitzer Prize,
its credibility damaged.
Proctor thinks Cooke actually could have met
such a boy.
“If she had done her homework, she could have
found a story like that in (Washington,) D.C.,”
he said.
Cooke’s lie ended her career.
“(The) last time we heard about Janet Cooke,
she was working in retail,” Proctor said.
Proctor also spoke about Jayson Blair, a former
reporter for The New York Times. Five years ago,
Blair filed stories about the suburban Washington,
D.C., sniper attacks but never actually interviewed
the people he wrote about or visited the area.
Further investigation also revealed he had faked
other stories. Like Cooke, Blair was
fired but not without damaging The
New York Times’ reputation.
Proctor said Cooke and Blair are
examples of when reporters do not
take ethics seriously.
“People get lazy; Blair filed his
dispatches from his apartment in New
York City,” Proctor said.
Proctor also thinks Cooke and Blair
won’t be the last journalists to falsify
a news story.
“We hear about it every so often.”
Proctor told VCU students to remain
ethical.
“Your stories have to be balanced;
you cannot be one-sided.”
Journalists who ignore ethics infringe
on the trust of their readers, Proctor
said.
“A lot of people don’t trust us,” he
said. “We have to do as much as we
can to gain their trust.”
Proctor told student journalists to
be honest if they breach journalistic
ethics.
“Admit when you screw up-it
works personally and professionally.”