Nice, busy day yesterday. I managed through a small project in the morning, a large section of an even larger project, then spent the afternoon putting together a press release. I did a bit of research for my article, and today I’m ready to write it.
That in itself is an event. I have this weird process. I start with the lead paragraph almost always (sometimes I’ll have the title in there first). Then I write fairly sequentially, with the occasional mix up of the paragraphs to make it all transition well. But that’s not the weird part.
It’s how I behave when I’m writing. I’ll write like a mad person, ideas flying onto the page, and mid-thought I’ll jump up from the chair and head to the kitchen for something to snack on or drink. Nervous energy – I have to channel it elsewhere or I’ll drive myself nuts. Well, more nuts.
In fact, I just did it again.
I was in conversation with a writer friend the other day and the recent Rupert Murdoch allegations came up. If you’re unfamiliar with it, read up on it here. If any of it turns out to be true, it will be one of the most bizarre, disgusting displays of driving the news I’ve ever seen.
It brought up the issue of ethics in journalism, which of course led us directly down the path of content farms and the lax way in which copy is vetted. And I’m sorry – you can argue all day you’re not technically a journalist, but if you put fingers to keyboard and earn money for writing, you’re expected to follow the same code of ethics as any trained journalist. Sadly, some of those trained journalists are behaving more like trained animals (really, read the Murdoch story and allegations), but I digress…
It’s made me think we need to consider adding an ethics course to the requirements of all college degrees – not just journalism. If you write anything at all, you need to understand what’s acceptable behavior and what isn’t. Your company needs you to understand that. You as a company owner need to understand that.
So here’s what I learned in J school:
Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. If you didn’t write it, cite it. If you didn’t cite it and didn’t write it, you’re plagiarizing and you may even be violating copyright laws (very likely).
Leading the story is wrong. It happens. Writers need to please editors or editors need to please business managers and publishers. They suggest a juicy story and want it written on that angle. But what if the story isn’t there? Actually, the lack of the story could be the real story. I’ve had that happen a few times. The story the editor wanted me to chase turned out to be something different. I was lucky in that she was the type of editor who believed the story should reveal itself to us, not the other way around. But ethically speaking, if you alter facts or omit information in order to present the story you or someone above you wants to present, congratulations. You’ve just compromised your integrity.
Stealing information is wrong. Be it tapping someone’s phone and email or eavesdropping on a private conversation, you’ve once more wiped out tons of credibility and integrity by acting like a hack and a thief. Get the information you need via legal channels.
Rewriting someone else’s work is both plagiarism and copyright infringement. Here’s where content farms will see their own demise occur. Too often I’ve seen evidence of the same stories being not just rewritten, but lifted verbatim. All for five bucks an article? Now you’ve added stupidity to your list of crimes. If you did not write it originally, it is not yours to use, even if it’s on the Internet, where you may think everything is yours for the taking (no, everything is not).
Taking another person’s story idea and scooping them – not cool. I’ve had friends tell me killer novel ideas that I know they’ll never write. And no, ideas are not copyrightable. But if I take those ideas and write them myself, without their permission, I’m behaving unethically. It’s not theft in the legal sense, but it’s theft in a moral sense. This is one of those ethical boundaries I see crossed a lot. I see bloggers especially taking ideas (even my own at times) and adopting them as their own creations.
What ethical boundaries do you maintain? Has anyone ever crossed them where you’re concerned?
What surprises me is that anyone is surprised by the allegations and evidence revealed. That corporation has never had ethics, certainly not in my lifetime, and wouldn't recognize a fact if it hit them with a 2 x 4. That his U.S. television station is allowed to call itself "news" when it's fiction is almost as appalling as what's already been revealed.
My boundary — if I feel the company is unethical or causes harm, I do not take the job. I turned down six figures a few years ago because a Major Company wanted me to create a "lifestyle campaign" for a product that could, literally, kill you.
Did I need the money? Desperately. Am I sorry I turned it down? No.
I agree, Devon. If it's causes harm or even is simply untrue, I don't care how much money they offer. I've never been offered 6 figures, but have been approached by companies whose products I cannot endorse. I politely decline.
I'd add: Don't let interview subjects see your copy before turning it in.
I've had several control freak interviewees insist on seeing the copy. I explain how that would be breaking a cardinal rule, and what I turn in is not necessarily what the final copy will look like anyway. If they're really annoying I tell them to take it up with my editor.
The only exceptions I've made over the years are pieces with highly technical information (and they only get to see the sections in question) or intensely personal stories, like a piece on a woman undergoing her second battle with breast cancer in less than three years. My editor and I decided she should see it first, since she reveals some very private things. She didn't want to change a word.
I recently had a new-to-me editor play fast and loose with direct quotes. The editor said it was because the subject had a peculiar syntax that might be hard for some readers to understand. Um, you mean the distinctive speech pattern f the interviewee? The editor said "cleaning up" quotes was okay, but this went well beyond cleaning up the occasional subject-verb disagreement. The "edits" dumbed the quotes down to the point it sounded like they were addressing a child. (Way to show respect for your readers.) I put it in writing that I wasn't comfortable with those changes.
I had a writer I trusted steal an idea and try to scoop me. Yes, she got to the editor before I did, but she didn't have the contacts in place to secure the key interview. Instant karma.
Devon, I think the shock is the depths of the allegations. Their tactics are well-known, but I guess decent people assume that even bottom feeders have boundaries. Apparently not.
Cathy, I've been fortunate that the ethical dilemmas I've faced were usually attached to ridiculously low pay, so turning my back was simple. Still, even six figures couldn't make me compromise my standards. I just couldn't live with myself to endorse something I truly don't believe in.
Paula, good one. I can't let them see the articles. Cannot. The article isn't mine to give out – it's the property of the company I'm working for, so they call the shots. And I have had to say that verbatim to one or two people. When they ask – and the nervous or controlling ones do – I offer to show them their quotes. It's allowing them to rephrase before it goes to print, and I'm fine with that, as are most editors.
I had one woman who talked a blue streak through the interview, then at the end said, "I'll need to see the article before you publish it."
Nothing doing, sister. I offered her quotes. She said, "No, I need to approve the entire article."
Needless to say the editor handled that one, because she was so belligerent when I told her I couldn't do that that her own PR rep was apologizing for her behavior. If the editor hadn't been introduced, I would have said, "Well, thank you for your time, but I'll not be using your interview or quotes. Good luck to you."
And that editor, as you know, is dead wrong. You do NOT touch quotes (except for cleaning them up to remove "um" or subject/verb issues). Maybe the way to illustrate that point is to send a note to that editor (whom I wouldn't work for again) in which you quote him saying something close, but nowhere near the same in meaning to what he said about your payment. Tell him you cleaned up his quotes for him. LOL
It amazes me that many times even journalism students don't understand (or care, perhaps) what plagiarism is. I taught a college course in the spring on media ethics. I had one student who plagiarized two, yes two!, papers. The only two papers she turned in. In an ethics class. I was beyond horrified.
I explained to her when I caught it the first time the plagiarism was wrong and if she didn't understand what it was, to come talk to me or go to the writing center. Lo and behold, she did it again for her second paper. Besides being insulted, I was amazed and saddened.
Sometimes I think people believe that whatever is on the internet is free game. No permission necessary, just take whatever you want. It's just not the case, and it can get you in trouble!
BTW, the two occasions I mentioned in which I might let interviewees see anything prior to turning it in? I only would do that with permission of the editor.
Lori, I love your idea for dealing with the quote-changer. One of that editor's "clarifications" totally missed the point of what the source said. It jumped out when I read the published article and immediately e-mailed the source's publicist and apologized for how that comment was re-worked. (The editor's bracketed "clarification" changed the entire subject of the sentence. Thank goodness they put it in brackets.)
Ashley, I hope you failed the plagiarist.
Paula: Oh yes, she failed. And was baffled. Which is also beyond me.
Kids today, tsk tsk.
Ashley, that is sad. I do think there's a disconnect between what some people believe to be free information and what is actually copyrighted material. I think journalists and writers (and other creatives, for that matter) should follow one simple rule – if you didn't write it, cite it. To expand on that thought, if you're using it verbatim, cite it. If you didn't write those words you're pasting into a document, cite it. If you don't, you're stealing. And yet it's confusing to some? I wonder.
Exactly, Paula. I've had sources read over technical articles to make sure I'm doing it right, but only if the editor says it's okay. I agree that those instances you mention are the exceptions.
Agree here, not surprisingly. And for me it boils down to how I feel in my gut.
The idea that the net is free is a twisted interpretation… the idea is that we shouldn't have to pay for content, that information wants to be free – a whole other area of debate, but never an excuse for plagiarism.
I suspect even the NewsCorp people and perhaps Murdoch himself, if they would truly listen to their own still small voice would know they were wrong… and did it anyway.
In truth, I agree with the idea that most college students should get a business ethics course. The reason I say this is actually quite humble.
I took a business ethics course. I have held jobs in various environments and run my own small business as a freelancer. Well, you can imagine how embarrassed I felt when I found out that I really didn't know all the rules. There were numerous types of business situations where I didn't even know right from wrong. It is not that I was completely ignorant at all, don't misunderstand but there are a lot of corporate ethics that people can not even know unless they are taught. Also, a corrupt office will teach newcomers 'wrong ways' in some cases: leaving the learner in a bad position.