By: Joe Strupp The Hillsdale (Mich.) Daily News on Monday retracted a bogus marriage announcement and fired the staffer who reportedly made up the item as a prank,
the paper reported today. The retraction, written by Publisher Kimberly Benedict, admitted that the false announcement of a same-sex marriage in Saturday's paper was a joke gone wrong.
"The information was fabricated and inserted as a prank into the news computer system by a member of the Daily News staff, who has been fired," Benedict wrote. "The staff member said he did not intend for the prank to be published and apologized to the two men."
The announcement reportedly used the identities of two men in the phony report of their having obtained marriage license. "The Daily News apologizes to the two men who were named and to their families for any harm or embarrassment this publication may have caused," the retraction said. "The Daily News also apologizes to the Hillsdale County Clerk's office. The official record of marriage licenses did not include the names of the men, and the office is not responsible for the error."
The paper also stated that "The Daily News management and staff take seriously their responsibility to report the news accurately and responsibly, and any deliberate fabrication or manipulation is unacceptable for anyone associated with this newspaper."
Benedict also wrote that the paper planned to review its policies and practices regarding such announcements, adding "we are using this situation to review our systems and to reinforce throughout our company our mission of delivering accurate and fair news."
Benedict could not be reached for comment and editors did not immediately return calls seeking more information.
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