Myriam Scuttlebutt (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cardboard_journalism) wrote2015-04-30 02:27 pm
cardboard_journalism) wrote2015-04-30 02:27 pm
Inbox [cerealia]
"Sss, sss, sss.
You've reached the desk of Myriam Scuttlebutt.
If you're calling to submit a story to the Cerealia Times, please press 1.
If you're calling to inquire about employment with the Cerealia Times, please press 2.
If you're calling to make a complaint about a story in the Cerealia Times, you are free to hang up. Complaints will only be accepted as submitted letters to the editor, delivered in physical form.
If you're calling for any other reason, please leave a message after the beep."
[boop]
[if 1 is pressed]
"You've reached the extension for submitting a story to the Cerealia Times. Please describe your story after the beep. For reference, please include your name and contact information. You may also make your tip anonymously, or ask for anonymity. As a source, your anonymity is protected by law, and will not be revealed without your express permission.
Kahk-kahk... Keep in mind, you cannot be financially compensated for information you provide, for reason of journalistic ethics. ...no, really, journalists aren't supposed to do that."
[boop]
[if 2 is pressed]
"The Cerealia Times is in need of correspondents, reporters, photojournalists, and delivery personnel.
Correspondent: you are expected to respond to stories that break out in an assigned section of Cerealia, report the information at the scene, interview witnesses, and supply written stories. Mild literacy is required.
Reporters: you are expected to actively pursue assigned stories and conduct related interviews in a timely manner. Mild interpersonal skills a plus, but not essential. With approval, you will be free to investigate your own stories.
Photojournalists: you are expected to record newsworthy events on film. This may require taking shots under suboptimal conditions.
Delivery personnel: you are expected to transport, unload, and fold bundles of newspaper around Cerealia.
All of these jobs take long hours and are very demanding... but they're worth it. --Except for the delivery job, that's just busywork. Sss, sss!
Leave your contact information, desired post, and brief description of your experience, if any!"
[boop]
[action thread continuations can go here too!]
You've reached the desk of Myriam Scuttlebutt.
If you're calling to submit a story to the Cerealia Times, please press 1.
If you're calling to inquire about employment with the Cerealia Times, please press 2.
If you're calling to make a complaint about a story in the Cerealia Times, you are free to hang up. Complaints will only be accepted as submitted letters to the editor, delivered in physical form.
If you're calling for any other reason, please leave a message after the beep."
[boop]
[if 1 is pressed]
"You've reached the extension for submitting a story to the Cerealia Times. Please describe your story after the beep. For reference, please include your name and contact information. You may also make your tip anonymously, or ask for anonymity. As a source, your anonymity is protected by law, and will not be revealed without your express permission.
Kahk-kahk... Keep in mind, you cannot be financially compensated for information you provide, for reason of journalistic ethics. ...no, really, journalists aren't supposed to do that."
[boop]
[if 2 is pressed]
"The Cerealia Times is in need of correspondents, reporters, photojournalists, and delivery personnel.
Correspondent: you are expected to respond to stories that break out in an assigned section of Cerealia, report the information at the scene, interview witnesses, and supply written stories. Mild literacy is required.
Reporters: you are expected to actively pursue assigned stories and conduct related interviews in a timely manner. Mild interpersonal skills a plus, but not essential. With approval, you will be free to investigate your own stories.
Photojournalists: you are expected to record newsworthy events on film. This may require taking shots under suboptimal conditions.
Delivery personnel: you are expected to transport, unload, and fold bundles of newspaper around Cerealia.
All of these jobs take long hours and are very demanding... but they're worth it. --Except for the delivery job, that's just busywork. Sss, sss!
Leave your contact information, desired post, and brief description of your experience, if any!"
[boop]
[action thread continuations can go here too!]
[1]
It's about the newspaper editor who will be printing a retraction for the defamatory story she published regarding the actions of Mr Phoenix Wright and Miss Maya Fey.
Of course, if that doesn't appeal to you I'm sure you'd be interested in the story about the libel suit the same newspaper editor will be facing if she doesn't print the retraction.
I'll leave it up to your journalistic integrity to decide which option you'll be pursuing.
Thank you for your time.
audio;
[Nevertheless, this was no time to show fear. Courage, Scuttlebutt!]
[the call back to Mia would occur right away.]
Hello? Is this Miss Mia Fey? Myriam Scuttlebutt, editor of The Cerealia Times getting back to you. How are you?
For future reference, Miss Fey, requests for corrections neither qualify as "1" or "2" on the phone tree, but you can just leave it as a normal message. Sss, sss, sss.
[It didn't matter, of course, she checked all of them equally. That is, every two minutes.]
You were saying something about a story involving Mr. Wright and Miss Maya Fey? I presume you're referring to their mention in the gossip column...?
audio;
[You are correct, Scuttlebutt, this is Mama Goose and she is displeased.]
You presume correctly, I'm contacting you about the defamatory remarks you published in your gossip column about Mr Wright and Miss Fey and I suggest you consider printing a retraction in your next issue. I could of course put this request in writing, but I'm sure you understand that if it gets to that stage then it will be the first step of my taking the appropriate legal action.
audio;
Well, now... hold on a second. You're presuming a bit much, I think, Miss Fey. An allegedly defamatory remark must be false to reach the standard of defamation. To my knowledge, there's nothing printed in the column that meets this criteria.
[Translation: you can't bother me for printing the truth, neener neener neeener.]
Do you have proof that something printed was untrue?
audio;
'There are burglars living amongst us! Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey break into an apartment! What are they stealing?!' I think branding two people as burglars in the public consciousness qualifies as being a defamatory remark.
Where is your proof that they were breaking into the apartment in question with the intent to commit a burglary? Did you contact either Mr Wright or Miss Fey for their comment before you printed the remarks? Did you contact the owner of the apartment for theirs?
Journalism is reporting the facts, Miss Scuttlebutt, something your publication seems surprisingly light on.
audio;
--My proof is a verified source, Miss Fey. They've asked to remain anonymous, so I cannot name names, but nonetheless they were verified before printing. Furthermore, I have received a source after printing that Mr. Wright and Miss Maya Fey have freely admitted to breaking into an apartment that was owned by neither of them.
[Her policy was also quite firmly not to contact people about how they were going to wind up in the gossip column, but she didn't need to mention that.]
According to my source, Mr. Wright and Miss Maya Fey's excuse is that they broke into the apartment to investigate a friend who had gone missing. If that's true, then, yes, the attribution of "burglar" is incorrect, but it was made in good faith and without actual malice toward either of them at the time. It's natural if you saw people breaking into a dwelling you knew wasn't theirs to assume they were intending to steal from it, is it not?
Now... let's not be too hasty. If I can get this story verified, I'm more than happy to print an update and explanation next edition clarifying the situation. Maybe you would be willing to contact them both and let them know they should get in touch with me? It could certainly quicken the process. Sss, sss, sss.
[She held her breath, waiting to hear if she'd be satisfied with that.]
audio;
Incidentally, the common law definition of burglary is 'the breaking and entering the house of another in the night time, with intent to commit a felony therein, whether the felony be actually committed or not' and as neither Mr Wright, nor Miss Fey, intended to commit a felony upon gaining access to the apartment in question, you must agree that you have, in fact, mislabeled them in your article.
Re: audio;
[Huh, most people gave up by this point.]
...
[S-So she was more tenacious than most! Persevere, Scuttlebutt!]
...Not so. We're not mind-readers, Miss Fey. You can't expect anyone, police, journalist, or whoever, to know what someone's intent was at the exact moment they do something. That's why we have courts.
We were following our sources. My columnist believed it to be true. Their belief was reasonable. There was nothing libelous, because despite what you just said, you must prove actual malice to prove defamation. And, as we are not cretins seeking to libel Mr. Wright, we will update the story next week if the new information is true.
...
What more do you want? Kahk-kahk-kahk...
audio;
[Journalists looking to sell papers ruined my family's life before and I'm not about to let it happen again!]
You're right, I can't expect anyone to know what someone's intentions are from sight alone. Likewise I can't expect your readership to read your article and apply the sort of critical thinking that should have been applied by your reporter before they chose to misrepresent the facts and apply to them the sort of spin that would paint Miss Fey and Mr Wright in a negative light. People will read your paper and think the worst and that is purely down to the way you chose to present your information. It is sensationalism and it is the blight of journalistic integrity.
audio;
[she sighed. There were a lot of ways she could handle this. But which one...]
You have no basis to sue me and you know it. You've already admitted what occurred met the standard of "without actual malice," so unless you plan to somehow overturn New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, any unbiased judge will rule in our favor. What you are doing is attempting to bully a newspaper for printing something you don't like through threatened litigation, Miss Fey, and that is harassment of the free press.
["free press obsessed gadfly" choice it was.
Same as always.]Are you even representing Mr. Wright in this case? You'd think a high-profile attorney would be handling his own legal actions. Or did you just read the paper and decide to try bluffing your way into getting a retraction...?
Anyway, even if your 'sensationalism' accusation was right, sensationalism is not illegal. Need I remind you you're complaining about the gossip column?
The story will be updated next week, assuming I get the facts verified warranting it. There may be, without admitting any wrongdoing, a note apologizing to Mr. Wright and Miss Maya Fey for the incorrect attribution of 'burglar'. If you still wish to persist in the fantasy of suing my paper for some imagined wrong, go ahead.
If there isn't anything else, I will end this call.
audio;
audio;
Why don't you tell me?
audio;
Re: audio;
audio;
It makes both you and her minors, and I'm not so sure it's acceptable for you to be going around publishing her name in association with what your source perceives to have been an illegal act, considering there are rules about that sort of thing.
And I know for a fact that you didn't seek any sort of consent from her legal representation or her guardian because in both cases, that would be me.
Food for thought, Miss Scuttlebutt. I think we're done, I look forward to seeing the updated article next week.
Re: audio;
...no, pretty sure I'm still within my rights. [there had to be some specific case about that, even if the "minors" thing still mattered. Someone v. Yet Another Paper, surely.]
I, too, look forward to continued publication of my newspaper, free of harassment! So, there, we both have something to look forward to. Sss, sss, sss.
[end call]