Another newspaper confesses "beer pong" misconduct

[hoosier]

Kalamazoo Gazette discloses misconduct


Saturday, April 23, 2005




The Kalamazoo Gazette published a series of stories last Sunday focusing on the problem of heavy drinking by young adults on and off campus. In that report was a story about a drinking game called "beer pong."

As a part of the reporting for the series, staff writer Craig McCool and photographer Mairin Chapman arranged to go to an off-campus apartment where the game was being played.

McCool and Chapman said they consumed alcohol while reporting and photographing the story. They did not divulge this information to their editors prior to the story's publication.
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"Their conduct is unacceptable and violates the standards that we uphold every day as journalists," Editor Rebecca Pierce said. "We don't condone it, and we can't ignore it."

The genesis of the project was the tragic death of a young man from alcohol poisoning, Pierce said.

"It's a sad statement to our readers that our behavior in any way would obscure this serious and pervasive problem in our community," she said.

The beer-pong story was one of many published in the three-day series which concluded Tuesday. McCool also said the story was written as if it had occurred over the course of one evening. In actuality, he said, the beer-pong story reported events that occurred over two nights. McCool told his editors this fact after the story had been published.

The reporting for the project began in February and involved four reporters, several editors and hours of interviews.

The misconduct of the two staff members led the paper to conduct staffwide discussions about ethics, and further sessions are planned. McCool and Chapman are no longer employed at the Gazette.

"There are some basic principles guiding journalists," said Publisher Jim Stephanak. "One of them is to remain free of associations and activities that may compromise our integrity or damage our credibility. This principle has been clearly violated and cannot be tolerated.

"I am angry and disappointed that the misguided acts of two individuals have tainted the good work done by others on the very serious issue this series investigated."

McCool offered the following: "In my chosen profession, we hold both officials and organizations to high ethical standards. When they fail to meet them, we hold them accountable for their actions. Just like the people we sometimes report on, I as a reporter need to be held accountable. Part of that -- though likely not the only part -- is to inform the readers about my actions.

"I want to apologize to my editors and also to my fellow reporters at the Gazette. The people in this organization work hard not only to keep the community informed but to gather and dispense the news in a reputable and ethical manner.

"While reporting for the story in question, I forgot those ideals. I hope that my co-workers and the readers, will forgive me for that."