Journalistic fraud includes practices such as plagiarism, fabrication of quotes, facts, or other report details, staging or altering the event being putatively recorded, or anything else that may call the integrity and truthfulness of a piece of journalism into question. As their reputations for accuracy and truthfulness are arguably the most important assets of mass media outlets, many strictly enforce codes of journalistic ethics and carefully screen their reports for factual accuracy, publishing corrections even for minor errors soon after a story appears. When a case of journalistic fraud is discovered (especially at a prestigious media outlet), it is widely reported upon. Plagiarism refers to the use of anothers ideas, information, language, or writing, when done without proper acknowledgment of the original source. ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, verifying, reporting and analyzing information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ... Mass media is the term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ... Journalism ethics or journalistic ethics refers to a set of rules or morals adopted by news organizations or members of the news media. ...

Cases of journalistic fraud

Janet Cooke (1980-1981)

Janet Cooke was a reporter for the Washington Post during the early 1980s. In 1980 her story, "Jimmy's World", about an 8 year old heroin addict, sparked a frenzied 17-day scouring of Washington, D.C. at the behest of then-Mayor Marion Barry, in search of child addicts: none was found. Nevertheless, the article won a 1981 Pulitzer Prize for journalism. Shortly afterward, Cooke confessed that "Jimmy" was a fabrication, claiming that he was a composite of several child addicts, and returned the prize. She also admitted to having padded her resume and resigned from the Post. Janet Cooke (born 1958) was an American journalist who became infamous when she won a Pulitzer Prize for a fabricated story that she wrote for the Washington Post. ... ... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. ... The Pulitzer Prize is a United States literary award given out each April. ...

NBC Dateline (1992)

In a November 1992 segment on its Dateline news program called "Waiting to Explode", NBC showed a General Motors truck exploding after a low-speed side collision with another car. The explosion, though, was actually generated by hidden remote-controlled incendiary devices. GM sued and eventually won a settlement. 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... GM redirects here. ...

Stephen Glass (1998)

Stephen Glass was a reporter and associate editor for The New Republic magazine during the late 1990s. On May 8, 1998, Forbes Magazine presented The New Republic with evidence that Glass completely fabricated the story "Hack Heaven", a piece about a 15-year-old computer hacker who breaks into a large company's computer system and is then offered a job by the company. After an internal investigation determined that 27 of 41 articles he had written for the magazine contained fabricated material, Glass was fired. His story was dramatized in the 2003 film, Shattered Glass. Stephen Glass was a reporter for The New Republic magazine during the late 1990s. ... The New Republic is a center-left American journal of opinion published weekly and with a circulation of around 100,000. ... Events and trends Technology Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other technology Reduction in size and cost of mobile phones leads to a massive surge in their popularity Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K) Microsoft Windows operating system becomes virtually ubiquitous on IBM... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Alternate meaning: For the Boston Brahmin family associated with John Forbes Kerry, see Forbes family. ... Hacker is a term used to describe different types of computer experts. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Movie poster for Shattered Glass Shattered Glass (2003) is a film about prominent journalist Stephen Glasss fall from grace at The New Republic. ...

• Salon.com: Hacker heaven, editors' hell (http://archive.salon.com/21st/rose/1998/05/14straight.html)

Screenshot of Salon. ...

Patricia Smith (1998)

Shortly after the Glass affair, award-winning reporter Patricia Smith resigned from the Boston Globe. Smith, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist that year, admitted to fabricating quotations. The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ...

• CNN: Boston Globe columnist resigns, accused of fabrications (http://www.cnn.com/US/9806/19/globe.columnist.resigns/)
• Salon.com: Confabulation crisis (http://www.salon.com/media/1998/06/26media.html)

CNN or Cable News Network is a cable television network that was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner & Reese Schonfeld [1]. It is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System, owned by Time Warner. ... Screenshot of Salon. ...

CNN NewsStand (1998) - Operation Tailwind

On the June 7 edition of NewsStand, CNN reported that the US used nerve gas in Laos to kill American defectors during the Vietnam War. It retracted this statement on July 2. Operation Tailwind was a covert incursion into Laos by the United States Army in September of 1970 during the Vietnam War. ... The Vietnam War was a war fought roughly from 1957 to 1975 after the North Vietnamese government secretly agreed to begin involvement in South Vietnam. ...

• CNN:CNN retracts Tailwind coverage (http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/02/tailwind.johnson/)

CNN or Cable News Network is a cable television network that was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner & Reese Schonfeld [1]. It is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System, owned by Time Warner. ...

Mike Barnicle (1998)

Mike Barnicle was a long-time journalist for the Boston Globe who was removed from his position at about the same time as colleague Patricia Smith. Barnicle was accused of violating several rules of reporting, but was removed from the Globe when it was discovered he fabricated quotes from parents of a sick child. Source: Boston Globe, October 5, 1998, Op-Ed Page Mike Barnicle is a columnist and radio talk show host in the Boston area. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ...

• Salon.com: repeat offender (http://www.salon.com/media/1998/08/20media.html)
• Boston Globe: Barnicle signs on as Herald columnist (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/03/08/barnicle_signs_on_as_herald_columnist)
• Boston Herald: We got Mike!: Barnicle to join Herald (http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=1333)

Screenshot of Salon. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ... The Boston Herald is a tabloid newspaper, the smaller of the two big dailies in Boston, Massachusetts, with a daily circulation of 242,957 in September 2002. ...

Rigoberta Menchú (1999)

In 1983, Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchú published an account of her country's bloody civil war called I, Rigoberta Menchú. In 1992, largely on account of this book, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Several years later anthropologist David Stoll conducted a series of interviews with Menchú's former acquaintances for a follow-up book. During this time he discovered that her account was largely fabricated. Specifically, Menchú was not self-taught (she received a middle-school education) and the land dispute in which her father was killed was with family members, not the government. No steps have been taken by the Nobel Committee to revoke Menchú's award, though. 1983 is an integer and composite number that represents a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rigoberta Menchú Tum (born in Chimel, Guatemala, January 9, 1959) was the recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize, given in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples. Her prize is based in part on her 1987... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nobel Peace Prize (where Nobel is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable) is one of five Nobel Prizes requested by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ... David Stoll is an American anthropologist currently teaching at Middlebury College in Vermont. ...

• Salon.com: Rigoberta Menchú meets the press (http://archive.salon.com/news/1999/02/12newsa.html)

Screenshot of Salon. ...

Houston Chronicle (2002)

In late 2002 the Houston Chronicle accidentally posted an internal executive memorandum to its website. The memo contained materials that appeared to outline a plan for intentionally slanted reporting that promoted a pending bond referendum in the Houston, Texas metropolitan region. The memorandum was widely circulated and criticized in other Houston print and electronic media outlets, however paper quietly removed it from their website and made no further public comments about the incident (see article on Houston Chronicle Light Rail Scandal) The Houston Chronicle is a daily newspaper in Houston, Texas. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... Skyline of Downtown Houston from Eleanor Tinsley Park Located in southeast Texas, Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and one of the two largest economic areas in Texas. ... The Houston Chronicle is a daily newspaper in Houston, Texas. ...

James Forlong (2003)

In April of 2003 Rupert Murdoch's Sky News Network carried a report from James Forlong aboard the British nuclear submarine HMS Splendid purportedly showing a live firing of a cruise missile, at sea in the Persian Gulf, during the Iraq war. The report included scenes of the crew members giving instructions related to the launch of the missile and included a sequence in which a crew member pressed a large red button marked with the word "FIRE" and accompanied by a sequence of a missile breaking the surface of the water and launching into the air. The report was a fabrication, with the crew acting along for the benefit of the cameras. The Sky News team did not accompany the submarine when it left port and the scenes were actually recorded whilst the vessel was docked. The shot of the missile breaking the surface has been obtained from stock footage. April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch (born March 11, 1931), Australian-born American media proprietor, is the major shareholder and managing director of News Corporation, one of the worlds largest and most influential media corporations. ... Sky News is Europes first 24-hour television news channel, originally launched as part of the 4-channel Sky Television satellite package in February 1989. ... USS Los Angeles A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate underwater. ... Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Splendid. ... Satellite image showing the Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf (Persian: خلیج فارس, pronounced khalij-e fārs) and by Arab countries Arabian Gulf (Arabic: الخليج العربي, pronounced al-Khalej el Arabi) , is an extension of the Gulf of Oman in between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ...

The faked report was revealed because a BBC film crew did accompany the vessel to sea. The BBC crew filmed a real cruise missile launch for the BBC TV series Fighting the War. The BBC footage showed how, with modern computerised launching systems, a missile is not launched by pressing a red button but is actually launched with a left mouse click. The BBC passed the information onto The Guardian newspaper who broke the story on July 18, 2003. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter from the Crown. ... The Guardian was also the name of a U.S. television series. ... July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

James Forlong was suspended from Sky News pending an investigation [1] (http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,1002105,00.html). In October of 2003, he was found dead by his wife after commiting suicide by hanging. In December, Sky News were fined £50,000 by the Independent Television Commission for breaching accuracy regulations. The ITC has been superseded as the British commercial television regulator by Ofcom (the Office of Communications). ...

• Sky fined £50,000 over war report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3324281.stm) (BBC News - December 16, 2003)

BBC News logo BBC News and Current Affairs is a major arm of the BBC responsible for network news bulletins on BBC One and BBC Two, news output on BBC Three and BBC Four and the news networks BBC News 24, BBC World, BBC Parliament, the BBC News website and...

Jayson Blair (2003)

In early May 2003, New York Times reporter Jayson Blair resigned after being confronted with evidence of fabricating quotes and details in at least 36 articles. On June 5, 2003, Times executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald Boyd resigned as a result of this scandal. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Jayson Blair (born 1976) is a former New York Times reporter considered to have been a star reporter, until he admitted to journalistic fraud when the San Antonio Express-News caught him plagiarizing one of its stories. ... Howell Raines was Executive Editor of The New York Times from 2001 until his resignation following the Jayson Blair scandal in 2003. ...

Jack Kelley (2004)

In early 2004, an anonymous letter to editors of USA Today caused an internal investigation of one of its star reporters, Jack Kelley. The investigation found that Kelley had been fabricating stories or parts of stories since at least 1991. Several editors at the paper resigned due to this scandal. USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ... Jack Kelley was a longtime USA Today correspondent and nominee for the Pulitzer Prize. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• The problems of Jack Kelley and USA TODAY (http://www.usatoday.com/news/2004-04-22-report-one_x.htm) (USA Today - 4/22/2004)

USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ...

Fake "GI Rape" Photographs (2004)

In May of 2004, the Boston Globe published photographs it alleged were of United States soldiers abusing and raping women in Iraq. These photographs were commercially-produced pornography that were originally published on a web site named "Sex in War". At the time, other news sources claimed to have already exposed the photographs as fake at least a week before the Boston newspaper published them. This article is about the month of May. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ... Alternative meanings: Boston (disambiguation) The 18th-century Old State House in Boston is surrounded by tall buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries. ...

Dan Rather (2004)

During the 2004 US presidential campaign, Dan Rather was responsible for using forged documents during a report on George W. Bush's Vietnam era service record. Dubbed "Rathergate" and "Memogate" by the internet blog community the reason for Rather's choice to stick by the Killian documents after widely being debated as forgeries was investigated. After investigation it is still unknown whether the documents were known or believed to be forged prior to 60 Minutes running the segment. The aftermath of the independant investigation's report released on January 10, 2005 led to the firing of producer of the original story Mary Mapes; Josh Howard, executive producer of 60 Minutes Wednesday, his top deputy Mary Murphy; and senior vice president Betsy West.-1... Dan Rather, from a telecast in October 2004. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive (fraud is the use of objects obtained through forgery). ... Order: 43rd President Vice President: Dick Cheney Term of office: January 20, 2001 – Present Preceded by: Bill Clinton Succeeded by: Incumbent Date of birth: July 6, 1946 Place of birth: New Haven, Connecticut First Lady: Laura Welch Bush Political party: Republican George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the... The Killian documents (often referred to as the CBS documents during the 2004 US presidential campaign) were memos purportedly written by the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian. ... The Killian documents (often referred to as the CBS documents during the 2004 US presidential campaign) were memos purportedly written by the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian. ... This article is about a type of web application. ... Killian documents - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... 60 Minutes is the name of an American magazine-format television news program produced by CBS News. ... January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mary Mapes was a producer for the television show 60 Minutes. ... Joshua Jay Howard (born April 28, 1980 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is a NBA basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks. ...

Barry Schweid (2005)

On April 11, 2005, the Associated Press reported that John Bolton, nominee for ambassador of the United States to the United Nations had said "that the world body had 'gone off track' at times but that he was committed to its mission". This article was filed more than an hour before the beginning of the hearing session at which Mr. Bolton allegedly made these remarks. April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Associated Press logo The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency that claims to be the worlds oldest and largest. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ...

Barbara Stewart (2005)

In the spring of 2005, the Boston Globe ran a story describing the events of a seal hunt near Halifax, Novia Scotia that took place on April 12, 2005. The article described the specific number of boats involved in the hunt and graphically described the killing of seals and the protests that accompanied it. The reality is that weather had delayed the hunt, which had not even begun by April 13, the day the story had been filed, and was rescheduled to start, at the earliest, on April 15, three days after Ms. Stewart (who had worked for the New York Times for a decade previous) "described" the events of said hunt. As there was no hunt to describe, the story was obviously fabricated. As of yet, Ms. Stewart has not commented on filing this story describing events that never occurred. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Bush administration journalism scandals (2005)

• Bush administration payment of columnists - The Bush White House payment of public funds to right-wing media commentators by several U.S. executive departments under Cabinet officials to promote various policies of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration. Thousands of dollars were paid to at least three commentators to promote Bush administration policies. This includes Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher, Michael McManus.
• Jeff Gannon aka James Dale Guckert, a so-called "patsy" for the Bush Administration.

The Bush administration payment of columnists refers to the payment of public funds to right-wing media commentators by several U.S. executive departments under Cabinet officials to promote various policies of U.S. President George W. Bushs administration. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Alternate meanings in cabinet (disambiguation) A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... President of the United States - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Order: 43rd President Vice President: Dick Cheney Term of office: January 20, 2001 – Present Preceded by: Bill Clinton Succeeded by: Incumbent Date of birth: July 6, 1946 Place of birth: New Haven, Connecticut First Lady: Laura Welch Bush Political party: Republican George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... Armstrong Williams (born February 5, 1959) is an African American political commentator. ... Maggie Gallagher is a United States writer and commentator who has written a syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate since 1995. ... Michael McManus (UK politician)[1] Michael McManus (actor)[2][3] Michael McManus (actor 2)[4] Michael L. McManus (actor)[5] Michael McManus (columnist) [6] This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... James Guckert, a. ...

See also

• Propaganda model
• Scandal

The propaganda model is a theory advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky that seeks to explain systemic biases of the mass media in terms of structural economic causes. ... A scandal involves widely publicized allegations of wrong-doing, disgrace or moral outrage. ...

External links

• Washington Post: N.Y. Times Uncovers Dozens Of Faked Stories by Reporter (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40536-2003May10.html)
• New York Times: Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/national/11PAPE.html?pagewanted=all&position=)
• New York Times: Executive Editor of The Times and Top Deputy Step Down (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/05/national/05SHELL-PAPE.html)