After watching 20/20 program about Rolling Stones, Erdely and her team failed to observe professional responsibility and hence overlooked important professional procedures that in the end affected public image of the magazine. After getting Jackie’s version of the story, Erderly and her team failed to confirm her version with those she had claimed were aware of the story believing that Jacky was truthful and honest.
In the book the line between the fact and fiction , Roy Peter Clark points on the importance of paying attention to details to ensure credibility and bring out trust among readers. Clark says+, “They use details to make us see and suspend our disbelief, to persuade us it was really like that.” (218).
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According to Clark journalists should not give deceptive information either by omitting some part or by adding some. Taking time and thorough consultation allows journalists to make decision that help them avoid embarrassing mistakes (219). If only elderly and rolling stone would have conducted vigorous research, they would have not published an embarrassing reaction that negatively affected their credibility. Thorough research before publication would have shown Red flags that the story is one-sided and thus would have conducted further research to have the real picture of the story.
To avoid mistakes like the one Erderly did, it is important to adhere to certain principle of journalism such as verifying and using multiple sources to give different dimension of a story. As Clark puts it “The best journalist can do in such a world is offer multiple frames through which event and issues can be seen” (219)
Robert Ezra Park in his article, news as a form of knowledge mentions the significance of giving specific details to promote credibility of story. Ezra acknowledges the importance of publishing events with details including the names, place, and dates especially to the audiences of such stories (231-232).
The relational aspect of this story is that Erderly undoubtedly relied on Jackie as the sole source of information without considering her reporting skill for fear that Jackie would stop cooperating. This amount to professional negligence especially after realizing that her communication with Jackie showed many red flags on the accuracy of the information Jackie was giving. Such kind of embarrassing situations can be avoided when journalist seek different accounts of the same story and compare.
