Thursday, November 21, 2013 EDITORIAL
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Kansan apologizes for fabrication
On Tuesday, we learned that an opinion column published on Nov. 4 written by staff opinion columnist Bryenn Bierwirth contained information that was repurposed from a Feb.1. 2012,column published in The Guardian. Bierwirth is also an account executive on the Kansan's advertising staff.
The Kansan column was recently mentioned in a USA Today College story.
After reading the USA Today story, a concerned journalism graduate brought the similarities in the two columns to my attention. I immediately began investigating the reporting methods used in this and other columns written by Bierwirth to determine the extent of the problem.
The methods used in writing this column do not meet the reporting standards that we teach and expect at the Kansan. The Kansan accepts only fact-based reporting, the pursuit of truth in accurate storytelling and a constant standard of integrity in both news and editorial content.
The repurposed content came from the article "Top Five Regrets of the Dying," which The Guardian published on Feb. 1, 2012. The content was not copied verbatim, but rather was borrowed and paraphrased, in a manner that online searches could not discover during our editing process.
This situation does not meet our standards and looking forward, we will be reevaluating the process that allowed this to publish and taking a much deeper look at editorial content.
While this is an embarrassing situation, the best way to resolve this issue is to disclose it with you, our readers. The Kansan has been publishing since 1904, and we embrace the tradition of independent news organizations of correcting our own mistakes. We are holding ourselves to the same standard that we hold others in reporting the news.
To clarify, the Kansan is editorially independent from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. We benefit from the mentorship and guidance of the journalism faculty, but the decision-making process in this case was handled entirely by me as the editor of the newspaper. The paper is and will continue to be operated independently of the school of journalism.
Journalism that does not abide by these standards is unacceptable. The Kansan provides a beginning for journalists of all callings and with that comes the power and responsibility to provide a sound, fundamental start in a hands-on environment.
After discussing the situation, Bierwirth submitted his resignation from his advertising and news staff positions with the Kansan.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally apologize to our readers. Looking forward, the Kansan will continue to work to ensure accuracy, the pursuit of truth and the integrity of our content for our audience.
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansar
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