Megan Carter successfully made tabloid magazines look more appealing than a legitmate newspaper. I imagine that even the most slimey writers for those magazines thought that she crossed the line.
1. What ever happened to verifying facts? For some reason she would take information from one source and then run with it. I know that I would have read that file on the desk, but I sure as hell wouldn't have used it in my story. She was so desperate to get anything written, she didn't care where the information was coming from. She had plenty of stellar building blocks to good stories, but she failed to use them.
2. Her constant involvment with sources is another problem. For some reason it seems that she dates anybody with a story. She dated the FBI agent, only as long as he had a story for her. She then dated Mr. Gallagher for a while. I'm sure, given the right circumstances, she would have taken Gallagher's friend out at least once.
3. Knowing about your sources helps. Who would have thought that a catholic woman having an abortion was a problem? Not Carter for some reason. If she would have had her Libel Manuel handy, she could have looked up the Catholic Church. I'm not sure if it says anything about birth control, but a little extra research would have helped.
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sweetcorn writes:
"What ever happened to verifying facts? For some reason she would take information from one source and then run with it. I know that I would have read that file on the desk, but I sure as hell wouldn't have used it in my story."
Her editor pushed her here, too -- did you notice? Every time she tried to use a less hot but accurate verb, he'd tell her there was no real story if she watered it down.
Does an editor have an obligation or loyalty to a reporter's version of the story?
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