An unfortunate story of talent gone to waste is that of USA Today reporter Jack Kelley, who had to resign in 2004 over charges of plagiarism and fabrication, most of which he denied.
Kelley was hired by USA Today right out of college and began writing his striking news accounts in 1986. He established himself as a star reporter, a good writer who didn't mind putting himself into danger, often in foreign lands, to get a good story.
In 2002 he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in the beat reporting category, but just thereafter his colleagues and superiors began to suspect that on some occasions he had played fast and loose with the truth. In 2003, he was accused of such in an anonymous letter, and an internal investigation began.
Some of his troubles stemmed from his use of anonymous sources, and proof was finally produced that he had misled his newspaper by arranging for a Russian speaker to impersonate a Serbian in order to verify an interview story he had done.
The talented but perhaps overly ambitious Kelley resigned in 2004 amidst still other charges of fabrication and plagiarism.
No comments:
Post a Comment