Worst excuse for making up quotes?

[Zabka]

Is anyone buying what this reporter is selling?

http://therinkreport.blogspot.ca/2013/02/boucher-murray-deny-comments-27.html?m=1

http://m.poststar.com/mobile-touch-2/?disableTNStatsTracker=1&asset=0a7c2af0-70e6-11e2-bd3d-001a4bcf887a#0a7c2af0-70e6-11e2-bd3d-001a4bcf887a

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20130208/SPORTS/302080102/B-Sens-correction?nclick_check=1

 

[champ_kind]

those excuses seem pretty flimsy, but given that ben bishop is my best friend's cousin, the "i would never call ben bishop the best goalie in the ahl" was even more brutal

 

[didntdoit19]

This job was posted here last summer. Great hire.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/92671/

 

[Drip]

Is anyone buying what this reporter is selling?

http://therinkreport.blogspot.ca/2013/02/boucher-murray-deny-comments-27.html?m=1

http://m.poststar.com/mobile-touch-2/?disableTNStatsTracker=1&asset=0a7c2af0-70e6-11e2-bd3d-001a4bcf887a#0a7c2af0-70e6-11e2-bd3d-001a4bcf887a

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20130208/SPORTS/302080102/B-Sens-correction?nclick_check=1

Total bull****. I can understand making the mistake of having a quote written down and in the haste of writing attributing it to the wrong person. But covering a game story and running a quote from last year? That would not sit well with me if I were his editor.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Looks like he made this crap up to cover his @$$. I don't buy one word of it either.

If I'm his editor, I suspend him for two weeks with no pay, and tell him he should play the lotto because he's very lucky.

 

[Beef03]

This thread title begs the question, is there ever a good excuse for making up quotes?

Simple rule, if you don't have the quote, don't pretend you do. And don't ever try to rehash a quote from three months ago and try to pass it off as a live quote for a gamer, especially when the subject didn't address the media afterwards.

I remember when this job came up and so wanted to apply but couldn't, living in Canada and all makes it a little difficult to apply for jobs in the U.S. -- gotta get my dual citizenship, damnit. This kind of **** pisses me off to no end.

 

[SoCalScribe]

Two weeks?

If this isn't a fireable offense, what is?

 

[Liut]

Found it interesting the two interview subjects in question are fairly well-known people in their sport, rather than AHL nobodies.

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a warped attempt by the reporter to boost his bona fides.

 

[Captain Obvious]

This thread title begs the question, is there ever a good excuse for making up quotes?

Simple rule, if you don't have the quote, don't pretend you do. And don't ever try to rehash a quote from three months ago and try to pass it off as a live quote for a gamer, especially when the subject didn't address the media afterwards.

I remember when this job came up and so wanted to apply but couldn't, living in Canada and all makes it a little difficult to apply for jobs in the U.S. -- gotta get my dual citizenship, damnit. This kind of **** pisses me off to no end.

Begs the question. We need Fallacy Police.

 

[SportsGuyBCK]

Looks like he made this crap up to cover his @$$. I don't buy one word of it either.

If I'm his editor, I suspend him for two weeks with no pay, and tell him he should play the lotto because he's very lucky.

Two weeks? If this guy worked for me, he's history ... and depending on my mood, either walks out the door or gets thrown through it ...

 

[SnarkShark]

Making up facts, quotes or anything else and passing it off as journalism is a fireable offense. A two-week suspension is ridiculous.

Also, as I have learned, if a reporter does something like this, odds are it isn't the first time he's done so. If I were his boss, I'd also investigate literally every one of his past stories to ensure they had accurate quotations.

 

[dirtybird]

This job was posted here last summer. Great hire.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/92671/

Matt Weinstein had actually been with the paper for a year before that opening. His Linkedin said he was a Paginator/copy editor and a 10-year vet. Their twitter lists him as a hockey writer.

 

[SnarkShark]

This job was posted here last summer. Great hire.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/92671/

Matt Weinstein had actually been with the paper for a year before that opening. His Linkedin said he was a Paginator/copy editor and a 10-year vet. Their twitter lists him as a hockey writer.

His twitter page has also ceased to exist. Wonder why...

 

[Captain Obvious]

You have to give an award to the reporter for making up two ridiculous reasons as to why the quotes appeared in the paper.

The paper's reaction is bad as well, because we all know editors will fact check a minor-league hockey gamer.

The Press & Sun-Bulletin takes seriously the accuracy and credibility of its reporting. Inaccurate quotes or faulty identifications do not meet our standards. We will continue to monitor our coverage to ensure such incidents are not repeated.

 

[Drip]

Mistakes happen. This wasn't a mistake. Making up a quote is a deliberate move. He's fortunate that I'm not his editor. People have been canned less serious offenses.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Two weeks?

If this isn't a fireable offense, what is?

Yes. And that's why I'd tell him to play the lotto (because he's lucky he didn't get fired).

 

[Knighthawk]

In the chaos of getting quotes from visiting teams, filled with players you've never seen before, I can see attributing a quote to the wrong person. There have been times I've had to check with a visiting writer to verify that it was Babe Ruth who said "X" and not Lou Gehrig.

But using quotes from an old game between the same two teams? Even if that's what really happened, it's a mistake that says you are in the wrong profession.

 

[93Devil]

None of this is right but making up quotes when you never spoke to the person is the ballsiest thing you could ever try.

If you made up a quote when you actually spoke to someone could possibly be pulled off. Making up a "fact" could be defended with a got confused statement.

Creating an entire interview that never happened? ****. Just write the gamer without quotes and file it under ****ty reporting.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

The Murray thing looks like a horrible mistake, instead of a deliberate thing. Embarrassing, but not a firable offense.

The one thing with Boucher, though, is the reporter says he spoke to someone, who gave a couple of quick answers and that was it. Maybe the encounter was so brief that Boucher forgot it, or maybe someone else on the team was having some fun with the reporter.

Or, the reporter just epically screwed up.

 

[Captain Obvious]

The Murray thing looks like a horrible mistake, instead of a deliberate thing. Embarrassing, but not a firable offense.

The one thing with Boucher, though, is the reporter says he spoke to someone, who gave a couple of quick answers and that was it. Maybe the encounter was so brief that Boucher forgot it, or maybe someone else on the team was having some fun with the reporter.

Or, the reporter just epically screwed up.

And both mistakes happened after the same game. What a coincidence!