Behind the Headlines

State government reporter Jack Brammer has returned to his job after a random check of his stories over the past two years revealed no additional examples of using under his by-line material originally published in another newspaper.  The inquiry was conducted after Brammer last week used, almost verbatim, two paragraphs of background material that appeared the previous day in a story in The Courier-Journal of Louisville.

Brammer has apologized to the Courier-Journal reporter and explained that he inadvertently lifted the paragraphs by “cutting and pasting” an electronic version of the C-J story into his working file of notes. The Herald-Leader regrets the error.

Marilyn Thompson
Editor      

In the electronic age, it has become easier than ever for reporters to inadvertently fall into the plagiarism trap. Here’s the easiest way: a writer struggling under deadline refers to supplemental electronic material from other websites or wire postings. He or she uses the “cut and paste” function to bring material into a story draft, usually intending to thoroughly rewrite the borrowed section before turning the story into an editor.  Of course, once borrowed copy perverts a writer’s original file, anything can happen. With the clock ticking and editors demanding copy, sometimes even the most trusted reporters slip up.

State government reporter Jack Brammer fell into this trap last week when he was writing a Friday front-page story about Gov. Ernie Fletcher and a letter the governor wrote to university presidents about their vetoed capital projects. In preparing the story, Jack copied into his work file earlier stories from the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal as well as notes from his interviews that afternoon with the governor and others. As he hurriedly worked his way through the file, he left intact two paragraphs of background material lifted almost verbatim from the C-J. Jack’s story went to press with the “borrowed” material under his by-line. The next day, an editor at the C-J brought the matter to the attention of Herald-Leader editors.

Brammer accepted full responsibility for his actions, attributing the mistake to pure sloppiness. He has been suspended pending a more thorough examination of his prolific work product over the past few years. He also has written a letter of apology to the C-J reporter and her editors.

Brammer’s main concern was that his mistake would reflect unfavorably on the reputation of the Herald-Leader. Like all newspaper staffers, we want our readers to know that they can trust what we write and that we have not taken shortcuts in our writing or reporting. We will keep you posted on the results of this inquiry and we, along with Jack, apologize for this unfortunate mistake.   

Marilyn Thompson
Editor

A story in Thursday’s paper, headlined “Disrobing for dollars: Exotic dancers seek Louisville gigs about now for the big bucks,” generated a lot of feedback from readers, most of it negative. The story was accompanied on the front page by a photo of two clothed exotic dancers taking a break on the stage of a Louisville nightclub. Inside was a second photo, showing a dancer quoted in the story wearing slightly more clothing than a skimpy bathing suit.

More than two dozen readers contacted us to complain about the story. Most of the complaints had two themes:

1. We shouldn’t write about strip clubs or other things that reflected "negatively" on Kentucky, especially during Derby week.

2. We shouldn’t have put the story and photo on the front page where children might read it, especially because newspapers are used in schools.

One of the newsroom editors who planned this year’s Derby coverage, Dori Hjalmarson, explained it well in this response to an angry reader’s e-mail:

"I think your points about the play of the story — centerpiece with color photos on the front page — are valid. We did consider those points before printing the story, and several people in our newsroom raised the same concerns you did: that children who read this newspaper should be shielded from the sex industry and that the story was written in a way that made no moral distinction between stripping and other businesses.

"That said, you are right in that we could have done the stripper story  differently. We could have placed it inside the newspaper without full-color photos; we could have written the story in a way that draws a distinction between stripping and other more seemly businesses. We’re not idiots; we’re not callous. We considered the feelings of others before we acted. I believe the story we printed is a valid one, even if our presentation of it offended some people."

Whether or not you agree with our decision to publish “Disrobing for dollars,” or the way it was presented, one thing is for sure: It inspired a spirited debate. And that’s a good thing.

Marilyn Thompson, Editor
Tom Eblen, Managing Editor

A high school principal I know once told me: "Your job is a lot like mine. Nobody calls because they’re happy about something."  Yes, I get my share of complaints from Herald-Leader readers.  But it was refreshing at the Bluegrass Festival of Books to have several people mention how much they respect the newspaper and depend on the work Herald-Leader journalists do each day.

In the past month, we’ve also gotten a few more pats on the back from our colleagues.  The Society of Professional Journalists announced April 18 that the Herald-Leader had won two Green Eyeshade Awards. The contest honors the best in print, radio, television and online journalism in 11 Southern states.  The Herald-Leader won first place in business reporting for the series “Win, Lose or Draw” by Bill Estep, John Stamper and Linda Blackford. Their project, edited by Sharon Walsh, examined the effectiveness and oversight of Kentucky’s economic development efforts.  Also, Larry Dale Keeling won third place in the serious commentary category for “Death & Corruption.”

Tom Eblen
Managing Editor