Lying preachers fare better than dishonest reporters
Posted November 6, 2006
The church is the only army that shoots its own wounded.
It's a tired old cliche. And worse -- it's a tired, old untrue cliche. Ministers who mess up spectacularly get more second chances than a lot of people, including journalists.
When Janet Cooke fabricated a Pulitzer Prize-winning story at the Washington Post and got caught, her career as a reporter was destroyed. Not just at the Post. Everywhere. Journalists -- even the atheists and agnostics -- tend to view the profession as a sacred trust. Profane the temple and you're exiled into the Land of Nod, to the East of Eden -- never again to return. That's how it should be.
Plagiarism is another deadly sin. Steal someone's work and you lose your job and endure a public shaming. If you don't believe me, ask Jayson Blair -- the ex-New York Times wonder-boy or Jack Kelley -- the USA Today con-artist. Plagiarism is so noxious that it poisons not only the thief himself -- but often his editor.
Dishonesty is deadly for journalists. It doesn't matter if the article itself is correct. If a reporter has used dishonest techniques to get the story, it can bring shame on an entire organization. That's what happened to the Cincinnati Enquirer. In 1998, it ran a damning piece about the business practices of Chiquita -- the world-renowned banana company. The story itself appeared solid, but was based in part on illegally-obtained Chiquita voice-mail messages. Because of reporter Mike Gallagher's unethical reporting practices, the paper apologized, retracted the story and paid $10 million to settle the mess. Gallagher, a bright, resourceful, but dishonest reporter, will probably never have a byline at a major paper again.
In Rev. Haggard's letter Sunday, he said, "I am a deceiver and a liar." He then explained that he had been "lovingly removed from ministry" by leading ministers who have made it their goal to help Haggard find "healing and restoration."
A journalist caught deceiving and lying isn't "lovingly removed." And restoration -- in the world of journalism anyway -- is not even an option.
Lying, deceiving journalists are properly barred from the Garden. For the rest of their lives, they must make their living "from the sweat of their brow" or (if their fall from grace is sufficiently horrifying) -- by writing memoirs.