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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Why did Reuters put my name on a horribly slanted story? |
| 2003-07-24 |
| BY DEANNA WRENN Thursday, July 24, 2003 CHARLESTON, W.Va.--This is from a story that Reuters news service ran this week with my byline: "Jessica Lynch, the wounded Army private whose ordeal in Iraq was hyped into a media fiction of U.S. heroism, was set for an emotional homecoming on Tuesday. . . . Media critics say the TV cameras will not show the return of an injured soldier so much as a reality-TV drama co-produced by U.S. government propaganda and credulous reporters." Got problems with that? I do, especially since I didn’t write it. Here’s what I sent last week to Reuters, a British news agency that compiles news reports from all over the world: ELIZABETH--In this small county seat with just 995 residents, the girl everyone calls Jessi is a true heroine--even if reports vary about Pfc. Jessica Lynch and her ordeal in Iraq. "I think there’s a lot of false information about her story," said Amber Spencer, a clerk at the town’s convenience store.What I typed and filed for Reuters last week goes on in that vein. They asked me if they could use my byline, which I had typed at the beginning of the story I sent, and I said that would be no problem. When I got to work Wednesday, e-mail messages were flooding my inbox calling me everything but Peter Arnett. A colleague told me a fill-in host on the nationally syndicated Glenn Beck radio show had nothing but contempt for me. I don’t blame him. Thanks to Reuters, he didn’t know any better. I hope the people of Wirt County have been too busy to notice the Reuters story, the beginning of which takes a tone I never would have used. I’m not sure what reporter or editor actually wrote the story that has my byline attached. Reuters did use one quote from the story I wrote last week in the final paragraphs of one of their earliest Lynch stories, which was sent out for publication early Tuesday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, the quote was reduced to one sentence. Still, my byline appeared. By Tuesday night, the quote was gone and Reuters was siphoning information from television reports. The beginning of the story was toned down. The part about "media fiction" was removed. But even then, my byline remained. I understand that news wire services often edit, add, remove or write new leads for stories. What amazed me was that a story could have my byline on it when I contributed only a few sentences at the end--and in later versions I didn’t contribute anything at all. The stories contained apparently fresh material attributed to sources I did not interview. Maybe that’s the way that wire service works. I would like to make it abundantly clear that somebody at Reuters wrote the story, not me. I may not be a member of the world’s largest multimedia news agency, but I learned at West Virginia University how to report fairly, which is what I thought I was doing for Reuters last week. Apparently, when Reuters asked me last week if they could use my byline, they weren’t talking about the story I wrote for them last week. They were talking about a story I never wrote. That was the misunderstanding. By the way, I asked Reuters to remove my byline. They didn’t. I’m offering this column as an explanation to the people I’ve talked to in Wirt County. I’ve been traveling there since Pfc. Lynch was reported missing in Iraq — reporting on the anxious, worry-filled days before her rescue, when some thought she would never come home. Before the family became swamped by national media phone calls, I talked to Greg Lynch on the phone about his missing daughter. I talked to old teachers, friends and neighbors. These people told me their stories, openly and honestly, and I reported what they said as accurately and honestly as I could. When the national media flooded Elizabeth, some tabloid reporters tried to deceive the Lynch family. One uninvited cameraman had the audacity to walk right into their Palestine home. Like the Lynch family, I may never know why some members of the media act the way they do. Ms. Wrenn is a statehouse reporter for the Charleston Daily Mail, where this article originally appeared. Nice to know that there is no media bias huh? Calling Mr. Alterman? |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #13 SUE REUTERS TAKE THEM TO COURT AND WIN: THEY NEED A LESSON. Very unlikely she can sue. Newswire stringers probably give up both content and editorial rights to their material, which have a half-life of perhaps hours. Even if she could claim that Reuters damaged her reputation, a simply apology and retraction from Reuters would probably remove any grounds for monetary damages. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-7-24 8:25:53 PM |
| #12 SUE REUTERS TAKE THEM TO COURT AND WIN: THEY NEED A LESSON. |
| Posted by: Anon1 2003-7-24 7:50:24 PM |
| #11 What's interesting to me is not so much how Reuters is going to react but how the news services that just print what Reuters sends them are going to react. And I agree with Kalle. The Iraq coverage has really gone past spin and into outright fabrication. It's a disgrace. |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-7-24 7:27:48 PM |
| #10 Fox - Brit Hume's special report just raised the ante - explaining the whole issue - will Rooters "explain" - don't hold your breath |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-7-24 6:33:24 PM |
| #9 SM,can she sue? If so she should stick it to them. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-7-24 5:29:17 PM |
| #8 Some newspapers have to stop paying Rooters for news services, even if only financial and electronic trading, to make a difference. Any candidates out there reading this? Doubt it. So, yeah, ho-hum. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-7-24 4:23:59 PM |
| #7 I guess Reuters should start putting scare quotes around its bylines. |
| Posted by: Larry 2003-7-24 3:20:31 PM |
| #6 Wow! If I were Deanna. I'd be reaching for my lawyer right about now. Of course I am a Californian.... |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2003-7-24 2:13:32 PM |
| #5 Only if it gets played in the major media --after blogs analyze and expand, of course. The WSJ has it online, but is it in the print edition? The Iraq campaign has convinced me to ignore completely: NYT, BBC, CNN, and Reuters -- as well as a host of formerly reputable European newspapers. I'll admit I was already leaning away from these mostly anti-American organisations, but it is absolutely unforgivable that they engage in repeated lies and systematically refuse to portray the liberation in a positive light. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2003-7-24 2:05:11 PM |
| #4 ZF: Reuters and credibility! Good one! I'm still chuckling... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-7-24 2:03:44 PM |
| #3 As if they care.Ho-hum. |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-7-24 2:01:31 PM |
| #2 This is, potentiallly, as damaging to Reuters as the Blair scandal at the NY Times, and the Kelley scandal at the BBC. I believe Reuters makes most of its money in financial news and electronic trading, but this will definitely dent its credibility in terms of breaking news events that affect both stock and bond prices. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-7-24 2:00:02 PM |
| #1 This is, potentiallly, as damaging to Reuters as the Blair scandal at the NY Times, and the Kelley scandal at the BBC. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-7-24 1:22:30 PM |