USA Today fires reporter for faking stories

Haaretz Daily ^ | March 20, 2004

[joan]

USA Today said Friday that an examination of the work of journalist Jack Kelley found strong evidence that the newspaper's former star foreign correspondent had fabricated substantial portions of at least eight major stories, including a firsthand account of settlers shooting on a Palestinian taxi in Hebron.

"As an institution, we failed our readers by not recognizing Jack Kelley's problems. For that I apologize," Publisher Craig Moon said.

After spending seven weeks closely examining Kelley's work, a team of journalists also found that Kelley had lifted quotes or other material from competing publications, lied in speeches he delivered for USA Today and conspired to mislead the investigation into his work.

An examination of his computer unearthed scripts Kelley had written to help at least three people mislead reporters attempting to verify his work, the newspaper said.

For one of his stories in 2000, the newspaper said, Kelley used a snapshot he took of a Cuban hotel worker to authenticate a tale he made up about a woman who died fleeing Cuba by boat. The woman in the photo never fled by boat, and a USA Today reporter located her alive this month, the newspaper said.

Kelley, 43, quit the newspaper in January after admitting he conspired with a translator to mislead editors looking into the veracity of his reporting.

Kelly said he'd never fabricated or plagiarized.

"I feel like I'm being set up," he told editors at the newspaper on Thursday.

Kelley spent his entire 21-year career at USA Today and was five times nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious award in journalism.

For one of the stories that helped make him a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2001, Kelley wrote that he was an eyewitness to a suicide bombing. But the investigation showed that the man Kelley described could not have been the bomber, USA Today said.

On September 2001 Kelley reported that he joined a group of settlers from Hebron at an ambush, from which they fired at a Palestinian taxi. According to Kelley, there were no injuries in the incident. The newspaper also said "the evidence strongly contradicted" other published accounts by Kelley: that he spent the night with Egyptian terrorists in 1997; watched a Pakistani student unfold a picture of the Sears Tower and say, "This one is mine," in 2001; interviewed the daughter of an Iraqi general in 2003; or went on a high-speed hunt for Osama bin Laden in 2003.

Hotel, phone or other records contradicted Kelley's explanations of how he reported stories from Egypt, Russia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Cuba and Pakistan, the newspaper said.

The three former newspaper editors brought in to conduct the investigation -- Bill Hilliard, Bill Kovach and John Seigenthaler -- called Kelley's conduct "a sad and shameful betrayal of public trust."

[joan]

He wrote at least three which demonized Serbs - bet they all contained fabrications.

[Destro]

HE DID

[Eala]

If the news media fired every reporter and editor that lied, twisted or slanted stories for their political left-wing bias... there would be about enough left to publish a small-town weekly. Frankly, in my experience used-car salesmen are far more trustworthy than these.

[goldstategop]

The USA Today's Jayson Blair. Wow... partisan plagiarists - there are more bad apples in the nation's newsrooms than the partisan media is willing to admit. It didn't begin and end with the Gray Lady.

[battlegearboat]

I was taught at a very young age that 70 per cent of what you read in newspapers is baloney.

I'm inclined to believe the actual percentage is a bit higher now.

[joan]

The money from the fines should go to the people he victimized through his lies.

One of his stories involved the alleged diary of a Serbian girl which conveniently described evil actions of Serbs against Croats, but nothing of what Croats did to Serbs. It also conveniently had a poem in English which rhymed and showed the "Serbian girl" to have violent intentions towards Croats and conveniently, again, self-admitting she is a pure Serb:

One passage, as described by Mr. Kelley, read: "I am going to hang little Croats on little poles. I am a Serbian child from my head to my toes.''
http://www.asyura2.com/0401/war46/msg/945.html

He was inciting hatred towards Croatian Serb children - making them into demons. Wonders, who was in Croatia throughout the war, saw dead Serb children and Serb civilians in places all over Croatia. People like him are as wicked as Nazi propagandists.

[Ann Archy]

Is Paul Kelley a kid or a mature man?

[joan]

It's Jack Kelley, and he's 43 years old, is that mature enough for you?

[MainFrame65]

Meaningless. Since it's USAToday, they will just replace him with a younger, more ideological, lying leftist clone. The Commercial Appeal, here in Memphis, just replaced its weasely, dishonest, leftist syncophantic editorial page editor with another who is even less honest.

[syriacus]

A similar apology was visibly displayed in USA Today...right?

[Arpege92]

Another reporter is caught lying....I'm shocked!

[norwaypinesavage]

"I was taught at a very young age that 70 per cent of what you read in newspapers is baloney."

70 percent is far too low.

I have a friend who crashed an ultra-light. That's hardly an incident that would evoke bias. Yet, the newspaper reports were so far from accurate that one could hardly believe they were reporting the same incident. Just think of what it would be like if the reporter were biased.

[dogbyte12]

I have been interviewed 2 times for a newspaper. One time by my college paper and one time by a small local. The college paper quoted me accurately. The small local reportette must have thought I was boring. She actually made up an entire quote from me with flowery language. She did get my point, so she didn't twist what I said. She just thought I guess that she could say it better than I did, so she paraphrased me, but made it a quote. I didn't complain about it at the time, because I thought it made me sound good, but it did make me realize that you can never really trust the press.

[RoseofTexas]

Lemme see here, the NYSLIMES, and this RAG have reporters that reported LIES and they are still in business?!! MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE, GET GOING!! Clymer lib RATS! These damn RAGS are NEVER held accountable!

[Cicero]

I recognize the name. He is a constant offender.

Kelley spent his entire 21-year career at USA Today and was five times nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious award in journalism.

Why was he nominated for the Pulitzer Prize? Because he was carrying water for the leftist cause. 95% of Pulitzer nominees are leftists. It's worse than the Nobel Peace Prize. It's a coterie of leftists patting each other on the back.

[prognostigaator]

bttt

[Jeff Chandler]

I remember witnessing an automobile accident when I was a teenager. The editor of the local rag interviewed me, and I told him that I heard the crash, turned around, and saw a huge ball of flames traveling down the interstate. He reported that I had seen "great balls of fire". (He had a reputation for drinking.)

[celmak]

--- See B.S. (CBS) emphasized that this idiot was a “Chriatian” trying to associate him with conservatives. No true Christian would act this way, unless it was a Liberal church that uses Christ for there own means; which I’m sure he did. Even so; if he did call himself s Christian he gave God’s people a black eye.