Writer’s Shock

I just got back into the office after grabbing my lunch. A coworker stops me in the hall and says, “Hey, did you read about your friend at the paper?”

I don’t have any friends at the local paper, so I figured he was generically lumping me (a journalist) into a group with all of them. I smiled and said:

“No, why?”

He handed me the sports section and pointed to a box in the top left corner. It read:

On Aug. 7, a story on the cover of the Sports section about the Giants game at Pacific Bell Park was filed by a Bee reporter who was not at the game. The reporter watched the game on television at a location away from the stadium.

He filed his story without telling editors at The Bee his true location, leaving the impression he covered the game from the ballpark.

In addition, it was discovered later that the story included quotes from other media outlets that were unattributed and old, made to reporters on a previous occasion before the day of the game.

The story violated basic journalistic values and ethics as practiced by The Bee.

The reporter involved, Jim Van Vliet, no longer works at the newspaper.

The Bee regrets the situation and apologizes to its readers.

Armando Acuña

Sports editor

Make no mistake about this….As far as readers were concerned, Jim Van Vliet was one of the most respected writers at the paper. He had worked there for as long as I can remember, and his work was never anything less than solid.

I sit here, in shock.

In journalism, there are a ton of rules. Almost every one of them has an exception or a loophole.

Almost.

A journalist WILL NOT PLAGIARIZE or FALSIFY WORK.

A journalist is supposed to put into words something that others were not there to see for themselves. A journalist’s only tools are the words he uses to tell that story. Mr. Van Vliet misused the tools.

As if reporters didn’t have a bad enough reputation to deal with already, he has validated the opinion of the segment of society that believes that “all reporters are sensationalists…crooked…dirty…snakes…out for blood…”

He disrespected his profession. He disrespected his colleagues, past and present, and he disrespected those of us who aspire to being a part of his profession in the future.

Today, I am in shock…and I am sad.

To my readers, both of my diary entries, and of my published work, please rest assured that everything here is 100% true. If it’s been published, it’s also accurate the very best of my ability.

Jim Van Vliet has given journalism a black eye today.

I will do my part now, and in the future, to make sure I don’t do the same.