Posted on 04/17/2005 9:30:18 PM PDT by Grampa Dave
Writer Fabricated Boston Globe Story on Seal Hunt
Fri Apr 15, 6:54 PM ET
By Greg Frost
BOSTON (Reuters) - A Boston Globe freelance writer fabricated large chunks of a story published this week, the newspaper said on Friday in the latest incident to embarrass the U.S. media.
The Globe, which is owned by The New York Times Co., said it stopped using writer Barbara Stewart because of a story that ran on Wednesday about a seal hunt off Newfoundland -- a hunt, it turns out, that had not taken place.
The Halifax, Nova Scotia-datelined article described in graphic detail how the seal hunt began on Tuesday, with water turning red as hunters on some 300 boats shot harp seal cubs "by the hundreds."
The problem, however, was that the hunt did not begin on Tuesday; it was delayed by bad weather and was scheduled to start on Friday, weather permitting, the Globe said in an editor's note.
Stewart could not immediately be reached for comment.
The newspaper, which first learned of the problem when the Canadian government called to complain, said in an editor's note it should not have published the story and should have insisted on attribution for details because the writer was not reporting from the scene.
"Details included the number of hunters, a description of the scene, and the approximate age of the cubs. The author's failure to accurately report the status of the hunt and her fabrication of details at the scene are clear violations of the Globe's journalistic standards," the paper said.
'NEVER ASSUME'
Globe Foreign Editor James Smith said that the newspaper knew Stewart was not at the seal hunt and was doing her reporting from Halifax.
"What she told us -- and we did check during the day -- was that she had confirmed with one of the fishermen in the story that it was going ahead," Smith said, adding that in retrospect the paper should have worked harder to clarify this.
"The point is, never assume," he told Reuters.
He added that Globe staffers have since reviewed two other stories Stewart wrote for the paper, but found no inaccuracies or other problems with them.
Canada is extremely sensitive about the hunt, during which hundreds of thousands of seals are beaten to death or shot for their pelts every year. U.S. activists, who says the seals are killed inhumanely, are urging consumers to shun Canadian seafood until the hunt is stopped.
Canadian Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan said his officials had called the paper to point out the error.
"We've been trying to get the facts out about the seal harvest, the fact that the herd is very healthy ... that in 98 percent of cases it (the hunt) is done in a humane way," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Officials with the newspaper were not immediately available for further comment.
U.S. media organizations have been hit with a series of high-profile cases involving plagiarism or fabrication.
In 2003, The New York Times' top two editors, Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd, left the paper after it was disclosed that reporter Jayson Blair had fabricated and plagiarized material.
CBS News, The Washington Post, NBC News, CNN, the New Republic magazine and USA Today have also been caught up in celebrated flaps over inaccurate reporting.
(additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa)
I remember when I was an enviro-wacko, I saw nervous caribou acting skittish around the Alaskan Pipeline. And then, I found out the caribou love to hang out there. Hindsight, the cameraman was trying to run them off. Orchestrated.
I also remember hearing the dangers of burning down the rain forest in Emerald Forest. I thought we might be out of oxygen by now. Hehehe! Public education. I think kids should be required to spend time surfing blogs/forums for an hour a day.
"Why cover the story when you can stay at home and make it up? Jason Blair knows about that convenience."
Exactly! This exercise is right out of Chapter One of Jayson Blair's best selling book for the mediots. "Don't go there. Stay home or in a hotel room and dream up your story!"
Oh and in Junior High, I read about the inevitable ICE AGE.
Is that what is being taught at these schools or do they just teach that the U.S. (meaning any Republican Administration) is evil and needs to be brought to it's knees at whatever lengths one needs to go, including but not limited to, fabricating (aka lying)about events?
The Globe, which is owned by The New York Times Co., said it stopped using writer Barbara Stewart because of a story that ran on Wednesday about a seal hunt off Newfoundland -- a hunt, it turns out, that had not taken place.
Alarge chunk?! I'd say when you report that something happened that did not that's more than a large chunk; it's the whole thing!
Here's her side of the story (denial is more than just a river):
Premature Journalism
Barbara Stewart, the Boston Globe freelancer dropped over her story about a Canadian seal hunt that had not yet taken place, says she never meant to deceive anyone. She just never checked back to learn that the scheduled hunt had been delayed by bad weather."The whole situation, while resulting from an egregious, massive, stupid [screwup] on my part, unbelievable carelessness, was nevertheless not malicious fabrication as in: pretending I was there and deliberately making up a whole scene and attempting to pass it off," Stewart says by e-mail.
"It was stupider and more boring and more flat out dumb on my part. Quite dumb. Remarkably dumb. But not vicious and not really a scandal, for heaven's sake."
"A Boston Globe freelance writer fabricated large chunks of a story published this week."
Haven't we seen this story before???? Old news -- NEXT!!
hehe! Smart bird. :)
bump! :)
If she made up the entire story, how is that "large chunks"?
I wouldn't let my children use grammer like that.
"Oh and in Junior High, I read about the inevitable ICE AGE."
My tagline summarizes that the MSM has been lying to us for decades.
And "THEY" want to bitch about the bloggers!
What do you think of the grammar of best selling writers?
She had a premature report-ulation
"Don't tell me that Stewart is yet another graduate from a "prestigious" School of Journalism."
"Is that what is being taught at these schools or do they just teach that the U.S. (meaning any Republican Administration) is evil and needs to be brought to it's knees at whatever lengths one needs to go, including but not limited to, fabricating (aka lying)about events?"
We have an older friend who is a retired USAF photographer. After 25 years with the USAF, he retired from the USAF, and for 25 years he worked for the local fish wrap as a photographer and was a free lance photographer for a couple of the major news agencies before he retired about 6 years ago.
He and his wife couldn't believe the anti America reporters, editors and publishers that worked for the local rag and other rags in the N California. They joked that they hired him because he could say anything and he was cheap re his photos.
There was heavier censorship of his photos by the left wing editors/publishers than in his 25 years with the USAF.
The low points came during the 1992 election. Our unemployment rate was below 4%. In spite of that, he and the pseudo journalists were sent out to find, interview and photograph the poor. In the last 4 months before the election, they had a goal of writing and photoing at least 5 families per week and 7 if possible. All ended up as front page or first section stories.
Most of them were professional druggies and had been on the street for years as so called homeless people. Apparently the fish wrap had spotters at the local help the homeless and some churches.
When a new family came in, the newspaper was contacted. The bimbette reporters followed a matrix which included how the evil Bush I had cost them their jobs. The reality were that they were professional homeless and had gotten fliers that our community was a great place to be homeless.
The editor and publisher during 1992 basically refused to run any story or photos showing the good life that 95% were living in the city/county. Every front page local story with photos were gloom and doom. Our friend said the bimbettes were very creative in their writing. One didn't like being near the unclean, and she would arrange a phone interview with the "Poor Ones" at a local social service agency and would send our friend to take photos. He said that the printed stories never told what really happened.
I guess I am not familiar with them. I know my own grammar is terrible and I am often horrified when I read what I have written in the past but words like "stupider" are something for silly movies not professional writers.
and her reply is off the chart......
"It was stupider and more boring and more flat out dumb on my part. Quite dumb. Remarkably dumb. But not vicious and not really a scandal, for heaven's sake."
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