I read how the vultures are circling to devour Mitch Albom, the Detroit sports columnist who made the minor mistake of writing that two former Michigan State players were at the NCAA basketball semifinals when in fact they did not attend the game (Tribune, April 9).
Excuse me, but big deal. At worst it was a minor error, easily explainable. Specifically, the players told him they would be attending, and he wrote the article on Friday for an early-edition Sunday paper. In sum, there was no ill will, fraud, or intended deception. Even so, Don Wycliff, the Chicago Tribune’s public editor, overreacted and said, “I don’t see how you can distinguish this from fabrication . . . like Jayson Blair, Jack Kelley or Uli Schmetzer.”
Please. Blair, Kelley, and Schmetzer flat out made stuff up intending to dupe the public. They committed fraud, reporting on events that did not happen, with quotes that were made up, from places they were not at. To group Albom with them is to group the jaywalker with the murderer.
Yes, journalism ethics have rightly been exposed these past few years, but I am pretty confident there are far bigger reporting sins taking place each day than Albom’s.
