The shockingly bad saga of made up quotes at the Reidsville Review has resulted in the resignations of the two reporters in question, Brook Corwin and Michael Pucci. They have also taken the paper’s managing editor, Jeff Sykes, down with them. AP has a story with all the details, including the interesting fact that the feature they fabricated was somewhat of an advertorial. The story also reveals that Sykes learned of the made up quotes earlier in the month and "verbally disciplined" the two. That decision — the wrong decision — has now cost him his job. The paper’s publisher has a letter of apology in today’s paper. From AP:
Sykes said he learned of the deception earlier this month. He said
he verbally disciplined both reporters, but now believes he made a
mistake by not immediately firing them. "I was trying be
compassionate," he said.The "Two Cents Worth" feature accompanied a standing front-page ad
for an insurance company. Many of the newspaper’s editorial employees
objected to the marriage of advertising and editorial content, Sykes
said. Several employees failed to turn in copy on time and Sykes said
he threatened to discipline the next person who was late."Those guys must have gotten behind the eight-ball and started
playing tricks," Sykes said. "I just don’t know what would possess
them. For some reason they decided against all the training they had."Corwin had been with the newspaper for 10 months and Pucci joined
the staff in January, said Sykes, who had worked in Reidsville for
three years. The newspaper publishes five days a week and has a
circulation of 5,195.
