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Albom Cover: Reporters Question
Editors’ Interpretation Of Report |
The Detroit Free Press’
investigation
into the work of sports columnist Mitch Albom is “under fire, as several reporters
who worked on the review say editors emphasized elements that supported Albom
rather than criticized him,” according to French & Shepardson of the DETROIT NEWS.
Free Press investigative reporter David Zeman said that he and other reporters
who conducted the five-week investigation “were disappointed that editors chose
to emphasize ‘what we didn’t find, instead of what we did find.’” But Free Press
Publisher & Editor Carole Leigh Hutton denied that she had “sought to water down
the story.” French & Shepardson note the investigative team found “a number of
cases in which Albom used quotes from other publications without telling readers,
making it seem as if he had gathered the quotes himself. Such a practice violates
the ethics policy of the Free Press.” The investigation also revealed “instances
when Albom lifted quotes from other publications and apparently changed them.”
The Free Press said that in “several instances, the quotes as appearing in Albom’s
stories ‘seemed to be livelier.’” Poynter Institute for Media Studies ethics specialist
Kelly McBride said, “That was one of the most troubling things about the report.
What’s in between the quote marks is sacred. If you need to make it more lively,
you paraphrase it.” But Hutton “believes the changed quotes were merely ‘a matter
of sloppiness.’” She added that the Free Press “planned a small revision of its
ethics policy” to clarify proper procedures for citing sources (
DETROIT
NEWS, 5/17).
