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No time for cheaters

by Chris Keller

In the April/May issue, Thomas Kunkel asks in Above the Fold if the pressure of a non-stop news cycle or the pressure to produce more news with fewer resources has anything to do with the increasing instances of fraud, fabrication and plagiarism in the industry.

As the editor of a weekly newspaper who covers the school board, police and six high school sports in the fall, winter and spring, in addition to my duties as editor, which include layout and coaching a staff of three reporters, I have to both confirm and deny these suspicions.

Some will say that the weekly newspaper gig is just what I have described--a whole lot to do and no time to do it. But does that give those who work at a daily the excuse to fake and make things up? I have a fixed time to do anything I do and do it well. Heck, I even have competition from another weekly newspaper in a readership market of 8,000 people. But competition is not an excuse for dereliction of duty.

While newsrooms across the country are cutting back on staff, perhaps it's high time the cream rises and the pretenders are discovered and tossed aside. And if anyone has an opening after purging itself of a liar or a cheat, there are plenty of us out here who still believe in the role of the newspaper in society and public discourse.

CHRIS KELLER

Editor

Sauk Prairie Eagle

Sauk City, Wisconsin

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