Doesn't the Herald owe more than an apology?

I agree. If we're eager to fire somebody, I'd start right there. I can't imagine the lawyers at my place having no concerns about that story.
Oh, and Forevertown? There is a difference, in fact, between just making shit up a bunch of times over a period of months or years and printing a rumor you thought was true, once. If you work in journalism and you don't understand that difference, then maybe you should be fired ...

 

I understand what you're saying about how we shouldn't necessarily hang somebody for one mistake, beardpuller. I sense that you're trying to be a voice of reason and compassion.

In most cases and under different circumstances, I'd be all for such careful consideration.

But, the thing is, we're not advocating hanging somebody over one mistake in the general sense. We're advocating it over this one mistake.

We're reporters. And Tomase did not do his reporting, at a level he should have for a story of that magnitude and for a writer of his experience, status and supposed skill.

We journalists, and we're not supposed to write and print rumors. We're supposed to check them out. And they go no farther if we can't back them up, particularly when it comes things about which we're going to lawyer up.

I know I can safely say that I've never written or otherwise sent into print a rumor that hadn't been checked out and firmly sourced with somebody willing to back it up. Not even on a blog.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe Tomase pulled this out of thin air. As I said before, the bad thing about this is that, there may, in fact, be a big story, and perhaps even a broader story, out there.

The reporter just didn't get it. Or, he didn't get it right. Or both. And, for our purposes, that means there's no story. It's kind of like that line by Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men."

"It doesn't matter what I believe," he said in frustration. "It only matters what I can prove." [Or, in our case, what we can firmly source].

As far as whether this is the first time something like this has happened with him, that's like a lot of things concerning this case. Do we really even know that? Can we ever really know that?

That's why, with this particular problem, once is enough. So, forever_town is correct in his assessment and reaction.

 

Write, your reasoning is very solid, and I understand.
I still think one MISTAKE is not the same thing as being a serial fabricator. And to me, firing is not what happens when you make a mistake, period, unless somebody dies or something.

 

Don't condescend to me. I know that difference.

There's also a difference between a simple mistake and an egregious credibility-killing mistake. If you can't get that, maybe YOU should be fired.

 

But this is a Titanic mistake. Tomase didn't get a name or a score wrong. He admitted he heard second hand rumor, never saw the video in question and did not talk to someone who either (A) had a hand in the taping or (B) knew explicit details about what happened.

 

True enough, Moddy. If we all decry sites like TBL for their ability to get away with almost anything due to their lack of standards and accountability, we should make sure our own houses are clean.

 

I believe I've made it clear during this whole episode that I don't advocate firing someone for spelling a source's name wrong or for making honest mistakes. And beardpuller, I resent your implication that I am the kind of manager who favors firing someone for making a single honest mistake. I wouldn't say stuff like "run a correction and say 'be more careful next time'" if I were the kind of manager who fires someone for trivial shit.

The severity of any personnel action should be in direct proportion to the nature of the offense. The punishment should fit the crime, and all that. Tomase deserves to be fired. A cub reporter spelling a source's name wrong in an otherwise well-written story deserves a "be more careful next time" if said cub reporter did the sort of basic reporting Tomase allegedly failed to do.

I can't be any more clear about it than that. If you can't see that, I can't help you any further.

 

Forever, you're very clear. I disagree. And I don't think your comparison with Jayson Blair was fair or apt, given what we know at this point.

 

I have one more thought on this, and then I'm going to shut up:
If Tomase's editors understood what the story was based on -- that he knew Patriots cameras were set up during the walkthrough and he'd heard rumors from more than one person that the Pats taped the walkthrough - and if they then OK'd the story, I could never support them firing the reporter when the rumors turned out to be wrong. That would just be ridiculous.
If I'm the editor, the only way I could fire the reporter in that situation would be if I were willing to step down myself. He certainly didn't make any bigger mistake than I made.

 

Well guess what? Life ain't fair sometimes.

My comparison with Jayson Blair has to do with the fact that both his and Tomase's mistakes were classic Journalism 101 fuck ups. Blair's may be one I would never expect from a Journalism 101 student. Tomase's is one I would never expect from someone who has gone through at least three years of J-school or its equivalent.