As a journalism student, I'm always told stories about reporters who fabricate quotes, facts, people, stories, etc., but I rarely get to see those lies on paper. Over winter break, however, I got to read an article that was both wildly and hilariously inaccurate.
On my first day home I went to visit my best friend. When I walked into her house she was frantically waving a copy of The Bristol Phoenix around and ranting about ethics in journalism and how stupid Alex (her younger brother) is.
Alex graduated from our town's public high school last year, and a girl who graduated with him decided to write an article for the Phoenix about where the star students from their graduating class are today. The article briefly mentioned a few students who went on to Ivy League schools but focussed mainly on Alex, who attends Plymouth State University. This girl sang his praises and referred to him as a star athlete and an exemplary student who always put academics first and never let his grades suffer. The only problem is that while he was definitely a star athlete, there's no way anyone in that school ever considered him to be an exemplary student. He was unmotivated at best and never had a very impressive report card.
When we asked Alex if the girl had contacted him to ask him about his grades and experiences in high school, he said of course she did. He also assured us that he told her his grades were less than admirable and he never really cared about school. He told her that he did the bare minimum to make sure that his grades wouldn't sink low enough to prevent him from playing hockey and lacrosse.
I guess those quotes didn't exactly make their way into the article...
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