July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
A lesson in saying sorry (6/25/03)
Dear Reader
Reports of fraudulent and fabricated stories by a reporter named Jayson Blair at The New York Times have had newsrooms all over the country reflecting on their own snafus.
For us, the Blair incident sends us back about 25 years to the late 1970s.
It all started innocently enough, as I recall.
A young fellow by the name of Ron Boeckman was editor of The News and Sun in Dunkirk, finishing up his degree at Ball State at the same time. Each week, Ron would drive to Portland and put together his paper.
A truly likable guy, he would end up shooting the breeze with The CR’s staff as the afternoon wore on and his pages came together.
Dunkirk’s Glass Days festival initiated a 10-K run in 1978, and Ron was one of the first participants, though he lagged badly and was passed by runners far older than he was.
The next year, another run was scheduled. Deciding to improve on his performance, Ron had been working to get in better shape so he could give the run another try.
He joked about it often that spring of 1979 and began referring to it as the Boston Marathon, saying things like “man, I’ve got to keep running if I hope to get in shape for the marathon.”
Weeks of this went by, with Ron joshing and kidding about it.
Trouble is, the daily’s sports editor didn’t realize he was joking.
One spring afternoon, Russ Carson started asking Ron more questions about the “marathon.” Ron kept up the joke and regaled Russ in fine fashion about how much work he had done to get ready for the big race. He even went so far as to describe what running the race was like. What he didn’t notice was that Russ was taking notes.
A few days later, when The CR was dropped off at the News and Sun office, Boeckman’s jaw dropped. There, in black and white, was a column by Russ, complete with quotes from Ron about his marathon preparation and participation.
The quotes were accurate. He’d said exactly what Russ reported he’d said, but his tongue had been firmly in cheek when he did it.
My jaw dropped as well, and it was my job to break the news to Russ that he’d been had.
His face went ashen, and he could barely bring himself to pick up the phone to talk to Ron.
Everyone else in the newsroom knew enough to find something pressing to do somewhere else.
Russ, to his credit, took his lumps, accepted Ron’s apologies for the misunderstanding, and immediately wrote a column explaining the screw-up.
The New York Times could have taken a lesson from him.[[In-content Ad]]
For us, the Blair incident sends us back about 25 years to the late 1970s.
It all started innocently enough, as I recall.
A young fellow by the name of Ron Boeckman was editor of The News and Sun in Dunkirk, finishing up his degree at Ball State at the same time. Each week, Ron would drive to Portland and put together his paper.
A truly likable guy, he would end up shooting the breeze with The CR’s staff as the afternoon wore on and his pages came together.
Dunkirk’s Glass Days festival initiated a 10-K run in 1978, and Ron was one of the first participants, though he lagged badly and was passed by runners far older than he was.
The next year, another run was scheduled. Deciding to improve on his performance, Ron had been working to get in better shape so he could give the run another try.
He joked about it often that spring of 1979 and began referring to it as the Boston Marathon, saying things like “man, I’ve got to keep running if I hope to get in shape for the marathon.”
Weeks of this went by, with Ron joshing and kidding about it.
Trouble is, the daily’s sports editor didn’t realize he was joking.
One spring afternoon, Russ Carson started asking Ron more questions about the “marathon.” Ron kept up the joke and regaled Russ in fine fashion about how much work he had done to get ready for the big race. He even went so far as to describe what running the race was like. What he didn’t notice was that Russ was taking notes.
A few days later, when The CR was dropped off at the News and Sun office, Boeckman’s jaw dropped. There, in black and white, was a column by Russ, complete with quotes from Ron about his marathon preparation and participation.
The quotes were accurate. He’d said exactly what Russ reported he’d said, but his tongue had been firmly in cheek when he did it.
My jaw dropped as well, and it was my job to break the news to Russ that he’d been had.
His face went ashen, and he could barely bring himself to pick up the phone to talk to Ron.
Everyone else in the newsroom knew enough to find something pressing to do somewhere else.
Russ, to his credit, took his lumps, accepted Ron’s apologies for the misunderstanding, and immediately wrote a column explaining the screw-up.
The New York Times could have taken a lesson from him.[[In-content Ad]]
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