Published: March 25, 2008 05:34 pm      

April Fool’s stories? Don’t even think of it in the pages of a reputable newspaper

While in college, I had the dubious assignment of writing bogus articles — but only once a year — as part of the annual April Fools’ Day edition of the college newspaper.

As a staff writer, and eventually news editor of the Concordian, there was a certain amount of goofy satisfaction to be gained from writing the most ridiculous and blatantly fake story possible for our annual April Fools’ edition. While it probably wasn’t a good idea to let young college students and aspiring journalists write bogus articles, the practice was still somewhat of a college tradition at the time. And our fellow students certainly got a good chuckle out of the sham articles.

Today, as a professional journalist, the thought of writing a bogus story is simply unthinkable. It’s something we simply do not do in our profession. We adhere to a strict code of journalistic ethics that mandates fair and accurate reporting. Creating a bogus story today about a UFO landing at Concord University would certainly not be a good idea, and probably make the boss more than a little bit angry.

However, it would appear that the lines between professional journalistic standards and traditional reporting are often blurred in this day and age of breaking news. All too often we are seeing broadcast media reports that are lacking attribution. Something is reported on television, or over the radio, but there is no official source to back up the information. No police chief. No council member. No prosecuting attorney. Just facts reported with no form of attribution. That’s an unfortunate trend. Imagine reading a newspaper full of articles with absolutely no form of attribution or official sources. If no official source was required for such news articles, it would be as bad as an April Fools’ Day edition of a college newspaper. Reporters would be free to write anything they wanted — accurate or not — if no official source or form of attribution was required.

However, in the newspaper business, every statement made must be attributed to a proper source. We can not and will not editorialize in a news article.

All editorial statements are reserved for the editorial page — and only the editorial page. We can never sensationalize a story, report on rumors or incorporate our personal opinions into a news article. We must remain objective in our reporting from the first paragraph to the last of each and every article we write.

I often find it amusing, but also a little troubling, when elected officials will stop a public meeting, and ask a reporter for his or her opinion on a certain topic. Believe it or not, this is something that will happen from time to time. To our elected officials, it is not my desire to appear to be rude, or not to answer your question. But once again, the role of the reporter is to observe and report, and not to participate in a meeting. Sadly, I’ve witnessed several occasions where local broadcast media reporters have stood up — and attempted to stop a meeting in progress — in order to ask questions.

That’s something you shouldn’t do. It goes back to journalistic ethics. If you have a question for an elected official at a meeting, you need to ask the question either before or after the meeting, or during a break in the meeting — if there is a brief recess or pause in such a public meeting. If it means waiting to the end of a meeting to ask that all important question — that is generally what you have to do. You can’t stop or interrupt a public meeting — reporter or not.

You also can’t report just one side of a story. You have to report both sides of a story. For example, you can’t interview one candidate for political office, without providing equal space to his or her opponent.

In real life, there are no April Fools’ Day editions of the Daily Telegraph, or any other credible newspaper for that matter. We can’t make up bogus stories. We are not a tabloid.

No, you won’t find a story about a UFO landing at Concord University in the pages of the Daily Telegraph. Not even on April Fool’s Day.

Charles Owens is the Daily Telegraph’s city editor. Contact him at cowens@bdtonline.com