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Kris DeRego, the news editor at Ka Leo, the student paper at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has been fired after the paper looked through his previous work and found a trail of fabricated sources and factual errors. From the paper’s report:
In a review of all stories written for Ka Leo between January 2008 and May 2009, the newspaper was unable to identify the existence of 29 people who were quoted by Ka Leo’s previous news editor as students at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
Ka Leo’s professional staff was unable to find UH records for 21 of the people quoted in the newspaper. For eight other names, there were students with same or similar names, but they were not enrolled as students at the time they were quoted. In conversations with editors, the reporter said some of the errors resulted from poor handwriting, stress, and errors caused by the copy desk.
The reporter is no longer working at Ka Leo. Ka Leo will continue to strive to make sure that everything printed in the newspaper is a fact. All reporters will be asked to provide email addresses and phone numbers of sources quoted in Ka Leo to improve accuracy.
It then goes on to list the errors and fabrications. This report also details another part of DeRego’s past:
If DeRego looks familiar it’s because he’s made headlines before. It was another newspaper story about him that tanked his 2006 candidacy for the Board of Education.
In the weeks before the election, the Star Bulletin reported accusations against DeRego of sexual abuse and theft. A former employer said he stole $8,000 mostly in liquor. Another newspaper that endorsed him for the BOE seat withdrew the endorsement and DeRego lost the electon.
Thanks to Anne and Romenesko.
UPDATE June 26: DeRego tells the Honolulu Advertiser that he didn’t fabricate quotes or sources:
Kris DeRego, in a written statement, said his stories were "adulterated during the copy (editing) process — a problem encountered by other staff members working at Ka Leo." …
"While I’ve certainly made mistakes as a reporter, I never intentionally misattributed quotes or attempted to mislead the paper’s readership," DeRego said. "To the contrary, I worked diligently on each of my stories, putting in extra time and effort to ensure that my work reflected the highest standards of professionalism and elevated the overall quality of the publication."
