Unethical Works, Unethical People Essay, Research Paper

In the world of media today, an ethics

code is one of the most important things to follow. Unfortunately, Mike

Barnicle and Patricia Smith did not feel the same way. Mike Barnicle and

Patricia Smith, both former workers for The Boston Globe, plagiarized and

falsified information in order to bring forth newsworthy stories. Throughout

this paper I will discuss the unethical acts of both Barnicle and Smith,

the problems they caused for themselves, and the problems they caused for

The Boston Globe.

“The following is what happens when a company

lacks consistent response to, and enforcement of, its core values and standards”(Hoffman

1). The summer of 1998 became one of the worst summers The Boston Globe

has ever seen. For thirty years The Boston Globe had built itself a great

reputation and had won twelve Pulitzer prizes. “The Globe even outshone

its cross-town rival, the Boston Herald” (Hoffman 1). In 1973 the Globe

hired a writer by the name of Mike Barnicle. Mike wrote about the Boston?s

working class. Including cops, single mothers, gas station owners, elderly

immigrants and young veterans. Problems with Barnicle started to surface

early in his Boston Globe career. The Globe settled two lawsuits stating

that Barnicle plagiarized quotes of famous people. Also, a man by the name

of Mike Royoko complained that Barnicle was copying his work. Many workers

at the Globe then came to resent him and complained that he was arrogant.

Just when it seemed that Mike Barnicle?s

problems were beginning to subside, on August 1, 1998, Barnicle wrote a

column titled, “I was just thinking?..”. A reader called the Globe and

alerted the Boston Herald that many of the excerpts in Barnicles column

actually came from George Carlins book, Brain Droppings. The column Barnicle

had written was not his own work..

This was the worst case scenario for the

Boston Globe because their competitor released the story first and at the

same time revealing the earlier problems the Globe had had with Mike Barnicle.

“The thirty eight, one-liners in the column included eight items similar

to George Carlin?s book, without citing Carlin as the source”(Jurkowitz

1). Here is an excerpt from the actual article that Barnicle wrote compared

to the writings of George Carlin.

The book: “If cockpit voice recorders are

so indestructible, why don?t they just build an airplane that?s just one

big cockpit voice recorder?”(Carlin;Jurkowitz 3).

The column: “How come planes aren?t made

with the same indestructible material used to assemble those black boxes

that always survive crashes?”(Barnicle;Jurkowitz 3).

The book: “People who should be phased

out: Guys who wear suits all day and think an earring makes them cool all

night.”(Carlin;Jurkowitz 3).

The column: “I don?t get it when guys over

forty think they?re cool because they wear an earring.”(Barnicle;Jurkowitz

3).

As you can see through this small excerpt,

Mike Barnicle obviously took his column from George Carlin?s book, even

though Barnicle claims to have never read Carlin?s book. This wasn?t the

end to Barnicle?s unethical ways. In1995 Barnicle wrote a piece about two

families with a child at Children?s Hospital. The story had been told to

Barnicle, but was never meant for news and the story was embellished and

flawed in the retelling. Barnicle wrote that one family lost a child and

the other family generously gave them a personal gift of ten thousand dollars,

when in actuality a gift of five thousand dollars was given and it was

given to go toward a scholarship, not a personal gift. Also the race of

the child was not accurate.

When The Boston Globe became aware of what

Barnicle was doing they were outraged. The Globe immediately asked for

Barnicle?s resignation accusing him of plagarism and falsification. Barnicle

states, “Plagiarism is not the word to use here. Laziness or stupidity

might be.”(Jurkowitz 2). Barnicle asked the Globe to run a final column

so that he could argue his case. Barnicle?s request was denied, but he

was allowed to write a column announcing his resignation.

So at the age of fifty-four in August of

1998, Barnicle resigned. In his resignation column he states, “My employment

ended in forced resignation and personal disbelief this August when I could

not immediately provide sources for a 1995 column that included the reconstruction

of dialogue I had not actually heard directly.”(Barnicle 5). Barnicle had

worked at the Globe for twenty-five years and said that they were wonderful,

but now it was time for him to do something different.

Unfortunately the problems at the Globe

did not stop with Mike Barnicle. Patricia Smith was also working at the

Globe. Patricia was a fairly new employee, but she was well renowned. She

had been a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. During her work at the Globe,

indications that she was making up material had surfaced, but the paper

decided not to confront her about the issue. Readers said that her words

sang to them, they were heartfelt and they were proud to read her columns.

(O?Brien 1).

In 1998 The Boston Globe for the second

time fell apart. Patricia Smith was found out. Walter Robinson, then the

Globe?s assistant manager, then editor for the local news was told that

someone on the copy desk had raised questions about the level of truth

in Smith?s work.(O?Brien 3). During this same time period Walter received

a phone call from a reader who had doubt about the existence of a character

in a recent column. The column in question was about a man named Ernie

Keane from Somerville, Massachusetts who supposedly phoned Smith in the

newsroom to talk about President Clinton?s upcoming visit to Boston. Keane

allegedly wanted Smith to relay a message to the President which read like

this in her column: “I ain?t real smart and I don?t have no fancy words

to make folks sit up and take notice. I?m just ordinary, but there are

a lot of ordinary folks here getting sick of screaming and no one hearing.

Our country?s supposed to take care of us when we get old, that?s our reward

for working all these years and living here in this so-called democratic

place. Just tell him that.”(O?Brien 3).

After reading this article the Globe decided

to conduct an investigation themselves. They attempted to contact the people

that Smith had used in her articles, but to no avail. The Globe then found

out that in 1986, while Smith was working for The Chicago Sun-Times, she

covered an Elton John concert. She wrote negatively about the concert saying

that he wore something that he had not and played songs he had not played.

She also said that the audience wasn?t pleased although the promoters said

that he was well received. The concert representatives also said that Smith

never even picked up her tickets. Smith denied this allegation. After finding

this out and revealing other stories the Globe was once again in a tight

spot. They set up a meeting with Smith letting her know that they were

going to try to contact all of the people she had written about in her

stories. Smith was “shaken”(Storin;O?brien 5) by the meeting, and from

then on the quality of her work went down.

The Globe conducted their investigation

and was able to confirm fifty-two suspicious columns since 1995. After

viewing the evidence the Globe decided to give her a second chance. In

turn she had to bring in names and phone numbers so the characters in her

stories could be contacted. From the beginning this didn?t work. On May

11th they came across another suspicious story. This story focused on a

cancer patient named Claire who was excited about what may be a cure. She

discussed new treatments that had been tested on mice and worked. This

time the Globe was able to prove that her story was bogus. Smith cited

people with occupations that required licensing and therefore they should

have been able to be tracked down. “When they couldn?t be located, the

game was over.”(O?Brien 7). The Globe asked Smith to verify the existence

of six of the characters, and it was then that she admitted that they were

fictitious.

Smith was then forced to resign. Before

she left she wrote an apology to the people who read her columns. It read

like this: “It?s not to late to apologize to you. From time to time in

my Metro column, to create the desired impact or to slam home a salient

point, I attributed quotes to people who didn?t exist. I could give then

names, I could give them occupations, but I couldn?t give then what they

needed most?a heartbeat. Anyone knows that this is one of the cardinal

sins of journalism. Yet there are always excuses. It didn?t happen often,

but It did happen and that was one time to many.”(O?Brien 11).

That may have been the end of it all for

Patricia and Mike, but it surely wasn?t the end for The Boston Globe. When

this ethical scandal erupted it threatened the integrity and core of the

Globe. Many people felt that it was the Globe?s fault, not Mike and Patricas.

Alan Dershowitz, one of the papers critics stated “It?s time to focus on

Globe higher-ups. They really are to blame.”(Kalb 1). Many of the workers

at the Globe were angry because the Globe did not make their decision fast

enough. In turn it caused tension in the workplace. On the other side many

felt that it was the fault of Patricia and Mike because they violated readers

trust and the trust the newspaper had in them; and that the paper handled

the crisis well.

In conclusion, having consistent ethical

standards and enforcing those standards is the key to running an ethical

business. Having no clear standards is what causes an ethical crisis such

as the one at the Globe. The biggest problem with plagiarism is that the

readers begin to doubt the truth of anything that they read in the Globe.

Maybe Mike Barnicle and Patricia Smith either forgot the rules, if they

were ever explained, or convinced themselves that what they were writing

was acceptable. “It is up to management to remind employees of the rules

and the values for which the company stands.”(Hoffman 5). By failing to

state or enforce clear standards, The Globe?s management failed Barnicle,

Smith, its readers and itself.

Bibliography

Hoffman, Michael. “The Boston Globe Ethics

Crisis: Muddied Standards, Muddied Management.” Business and Society Review

Summer 1999: 119

Jurkowitz, Mark. “Globe Asks Barnicle Fir

His Resignation.” Boston Globe 6 Aug. 1998, third ed.: A1

Barnicle, Mike. “I Was Just Thinking.”

Boston Globe 2 Aug. 1998, third ed.: B1

O?Brien, Sinead. “Secrets and Lies.” American

Journalism Review Sept. 1998:40

Barnicle, Mike “My Way” Boston Globe 29

Oct. 1998, A27

Kalb, Claudia. “The Globe Scrapes Off Barnicle

Mess.” Newsweek 31 Aug. 1998: 56

“Boston Globe Columnist resigns after admitting

to fabricating people and quotes.” Jet 6 Jul. 1998: 6.

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