I got into a yelling match tonight, am I wrong?

Writing a letter and then having someone else sign it as if they wrote it IS unethical, period.
Maybe it's not a major deal. Maybe it's like going five miles over the speed limit -- which is illegal but most of us see as no big deal -- but it's dishonest.
If someone is uncomfortable doing that, I think it's wrong to try to force them to do so, especially because of the business we are in.
And to debunk an earlier point, just because you will be the only one who knows about it doesn't make it OK. Most things you can do unethically as a journalist you would be the only one to know. Are we going to forgive Jason Blair or Steve Glass (was it Steve?) for making up quotes that they likely could have gotten with a little leg work? I mean, they were the only ones who knew they made them up, so what does it matter?
Obviously this isn't the same deal, but I'm a man who goes more for principle than practical. In this case, I'd stand up for the principle I believed in (though I'd do it without shouting) even if nobody else thought it was a big deal.

 

This case and those are so far from the same that it's not even worth explaining further.

 

Okie,

This isn't a contest to see which news editor can write the best cover letter. It's a contest about the writing with a letter that explains some of the background.

I agree, if I were the news editor, I would not force someone to write the letter if they felt uncomfortable.

But the post isn't about the editor. It's about the writer's response and in my opinion he was wrong to make a big deal about it and wronger to get into a shouting match about it.

 

I'm sorry, but if there's no ME and the news editor is responsible for writing the letters than what's the problem? You have a responsbility you take care of it. That's what makes people suck. They always like to unload their responsiblities on someone else. And I have walked a mile. Most "news editors" are just that....editors. I'm not bashing them. Their jobs are important too. But what they sometimes forget is that most people like me that work in the sports department at a small paper are both editor and reporter. If you think you're time is pinched what is ours with two jobs?

 

How so? Does a sports editor have power over a news reporter?

 

Revenge is a dish best served cold, melock.

 

If you're yelling in the workplace, it's almost always a mistake.

 

Are you going to serve me some ice cream? I like Java Chip. Thank you!

 

I disagree. I think the small things are where we start to have ethical breakdowns. Nobody leaps from being a perfect honest journalist to fabricating stories over night. It happens one step at a time, and it happens when editors start to ask them to do things they are uncomfortable with.
To me, that's the most important part of this whole deal. Editors shouldn't be forcing you to do things that make you feel are wrong. If they try, I think we as journalists have a responsibility to calmly explain why we think something is wrong and we don't want to do it.
Maybe you come to the crossroads where you have to decide between pleasing the editor and keeping your job. Maybe you convince the editor that you're right.
Either way, I think you have to try instead of just going along with something you don't agree with.

 

But what GV was asked to do wasn't ethically wrong. He just didn't think it was his job to have to do it.

It would be wrong if GV wrote it and forged the news editor's name. But as long as the news editor was fine with what was written and signed it, it's not a problem.

 

Disagree again. Is it wrong to make up quotes for a source who says, "Just put whatever you think." They know about it, so what's the problem?
And again, whether you think it's wrong for someone to sign a letter they didn't write and pass it off as their own (which it is), what matters in this case is that GV DID think it was wrong. To me, that makes all the difference.

 

This is business correspondence. This is not something you put in the paper.

Administrative assistants write letters all the time and their bosses sign it. You think that is unethical?

If I type a credential request on company letterhead and get my boss to sign it, is that unethical?