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The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown, Pa., reported in Thursday's editions that one of its reporters resigned after being confronted with evidence that he made up quotes and sources for stories published in the paper during the last six months. The resigning reporter denied the allegations.
The
Tribune-Democrat ran the following item in Thursday's newspaper. The newspaper granted E&P Online permission to run the story in its entirety:
A reporter for
The Tribune-Democrat yesterday resigned from the news staff after being confronted with evidence that he fabricated quotes and identities in stories that were published in the newspaper over the last six months.
The reporter, Michael Marcus, had been a staff writer for
The Tribune-Democrat for nine months, covering communities in the northern part of Cambria County and handling other assignments for the newspaper as well. He joined
The Tribune-Democrat after he was hired from a weekly in Charles County, Md.
In a meeting yesterday with the newspaper's management, Marcus vigorously denied the allegations and added that his resignation "is in no way an admission of guilt."
Marcus was represented by leaders of the Johnstown Typographical Union, the local bargaining unit affiliated with the Communications Workers of America. Union representative Todd Berkey, a
Tribune-Democrat photographer, said that Marcus was a professional reporter who did good work that was often lauded by readers.
Evidence of the fabricated quotes were brought to the attention of the newspaper's publisher by representatives of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. In a Sept. 21 article headlined "Praying For Relief, Parishioners Join in Plea to Spare City Churches," quotes were attributed to three people who allegedly disagreed with diocese proposals to close one or more churches in Cambria City. The identities of those three people could not be established after checks with a variety of official sources.
Arlene Johns, the newspaper's deputy editor, also performed a spot check of stories written by Marcus over six months. In at least 10 stories written by Marcus, names of people quoted could not be reckoned with existing sources, such as telephone books or tax records.
The Tribune-Democrat considers these incidents to be serious breaches of ethics, certainly not in keeping with the standards of journalism and the policies of the newspaper. We sincerely regret these occurrences and we stand by our news staff in their daily quest to present accurate, fair and balanced reporting about our region.
Pamela J. Mayer, publisher
David M. Levine, editor
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