Shoddy work shames the profession
The Age did nothing for the credibility of journalists and newspapers when it ran a false story on the front page yesterday claiming retired Essendon legend James Hird wanted to make a comeback next year.
Hird emphatically denied the rumor, as reported in the Herald Sun.
He also claimed on Melbourne radio that reporter Rohan Connolly had not even spoken to him regarding the story, which Vexnews claimed was published “on the express orders of (new) Editor-in-Chief Paul Ramadge”.
Connolly’s weak excuse for not calling Hird was that he writes for the Herald Sun.
They were reports which, in ordinary circumstances, would be run directly by the person in question. Except that, in this case, the subject of the reports happened to be a contributor to this newspaper’s major opposition.
Since when were commercial considerations a licence to forget ethics and standards?
No journalist or lover of newspapers can take any pleasure from this debacle. It’s shoddy work and embarrassing.
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