In a 1980 essay, John Hersey,
the reporter and novelist -- his nonfiction classic "Hiroshima"
is a skillful example of narrative reconstruction -- drew an obvious but important distinction between journalism and fiction. "There is
one sacred rule of journalism," Hersey said. "The writer must
not invent. The legend on
the license must read:
NONE OF THIS WAS MADE UP."

-- Chip Scanlon
Poynter Institute


Questions to Ask When
Writing and Editing
a Narrative That
Reconstructs Events

-- How do I know that what I
have presented really
happened the way I say it did?

-- Is it true? According to whom?

-- Do I not only have the facts
right but also the right facts?

-- How complete is my reconstruction? Is it based on
one source, two or several?
Have I tested it against the memory of other participants?

-- Have I sought independent verification from documentary sources, such as historical accounts or public records?
For example, my source
describes a "dark and stormy night." Did I call the National Weather Service and get the weather report for that date?

-- Do I have a high level of confidence in my sources?
Could I have been fooled by
an unreliable source or a source with a faulty memory or an ax to grind?

-- Is my purpose legitimate?
Am I trying to convey the
reality of an event for my readers or simply trying to entertain or impress people with my writing ability?

-- Does lack of attribution --
a hallmark of reconstruction -- diminish credibility? Does a reconstruction need an editor's note to help readers understand how the story was reported and sourced?

-- Am I willing and able to fully disclose and explain my method
to my editor? to my readers?

-- Chip Scanlon
Poynter Institute

Everything I know I plagiarized in high school

By C.W. Nevius
San Francisco Chronicle

Ever deft, the satire publication the Onion recently ran a fictional list of some of the "other" examples of plagiarism from former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair. Among them, and I am paraphrasing because I couldn't find the story to plagiarize -- I mean quote -- was "Brazil is a country of some 180 million people and the primary export is coffee."

Ah yes, the old direct crib from the encyclopedia. Who among us did not fill school reports with just that kind of copying? And if you do not have children in school, trust me, it continues today. To her credit, my daughter will sometimes tell me to wait a moment because she wants to put my "suggestion" of what she should write for a term paper in her own words.

But if you'd like a prediction, I'd say the Jayson Blair dustup is the beginning of some very tough times for journalism and news. Not because of the issues of racial politics, or the ethics of the newsroom. Those topics were well discussed -- about three weeks ago. Now we are discussing the discussion.

Nope, the real worry is much simpler and more basic: It is way too easy. It was a snap, really, for Blair to fool his editors. He got on the Internet, surfed over to the local papers in whichever area he was supposed to be reporting from and picked out a few quotes and details. In fact, he never left his apartment, but it seemed as if he was deep in the heart of Texas.

Think he was one misguided, unethical exception? How about this:

A high school senior named Blair Hornstine became embroiled in a controversy over her job as a teen correspondent for the Cherry Hill (Pa.) Courier-Post because she copied chunks of information into her articles without attributing it. Not that unusual, you say?

True, except for her defense. "Like most every teenager who has the use of a computer," she said, she cut and pasted bits from stories she looked up. "I erroneously thought the way I submitted the articles was appropriate."

Now where would a student get an idea like that? Oh, how about from one of the dozens of sites that can be found with the search engine Antistudy.com. Take, for instance, "Mega-essays."

"Over 101,000 high quality term papers and essays," it advertises. Click in and see offers for papers on Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, Albert Camus and Albert Einstein, just to scan the A's. And all for only $24.95 a month.

But why pay? Hornstine is right. Teens have refined "cut and paste" to an art. Teachers threaten to use sophisticated search engines to catch cheaters, but whom are they kidding? There is far too much information and it is much too easy to grab and glue into your essay.

Frankly, it is much too tempting for those of us in this business. Not malicious losers like Blair, but perfectly ethical professionals. You run a search for some information, print out a few stories, and it isn't until you've already sent in the copy that you realize that bits and pieces read an awful lot like what you found on the Internet.

Now, given what we know about the computer generation, would you say this problem will become more or less serious? And whom will you trust?

Several years ago, when I was writing a sports column, I climbed to the very top of the towering new football stands built for the Raiders at the Oakland Coliseum. With Raider owner Al Davis in mind, I wrote that the edifice should be called "Mount Davis."

I was pretty proud of that until a couple of days later, when I got a note from a writer who claimed he'd used the term the day before and basically suggested that I'd stolen the idea from him. The fact is, not only had I never read anything he'd written, I had never heard of him.

But do you think he believed me? Would you?

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle/used with permission
June 22, 2003

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