The Intercept stung by journalistic fraud

Adam Tinworth
Adam Tinworth

This is an astonishing failure of editorial oversight:

An investigation into Thompson’s reporting turned up three instances in which quotes were attributed to people who said they had not been interviewed. In other instances, quotes were attributed to individuals we could not reach, who could not remember speaking with him, or whose identities could not be confirmed. In his reporting Thompson also used quotes that we cannot verify from unnamed people whom he claimed to have encountered at public events. Thompson went to great lengths to deceive his editors, creating an email account to impersonate a source and lying about his reporting methods.

Journalistic fraud happens. As does plagiarism.

But the worrying thing about this story is the failure of oversight and fact-checking. Some of the quotes really should have roused editorial suspicion:

https://twitter.com/dougiebolton/status/694631193258672128

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Adam is a lecturer, trainer and writer. He's been a blogger for over 20 years, and a journalist for more than 30. He lectures on audience strategy and engagement at City, University of London.

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