Firing the Canons of Journalism

It's a dangerous thing when editors start tweaking the facts and details of your story. Sometimes this happens and we writers know about it; most often it happens after we've turned in our final edits.

While the majority of magazines I write for are conscientious, there are some out there that aren't, and I'm suffering under one such magazine right now.

Most times the change requests are harmless --- cringe-worthy, but harmless. For example, I suppose no real harm is done to me, my story, or my reputation when the publisher demands that "dark fruit" and "tobacco" be removed from the tasting notes about a wine, for example. Now, if "jammy" gets added, we might have a problem...

Sill, reconciling myself to such edits can be difficult. And I realize now that it's because truthfulness is in my blood, and because standing up for my work is imperative. You see, when you can't stand up for your work you find yourself on a slippery slope, headed straight toward writing a lie. Soon that slippery slope goes from Wild-Waves-in-a-bikini to a rain slick grassy hill, in ballerina flats, that stops in dog-tracked mud. This will not have a pretty ending.

Like a white lie, omissions and fact fudging --- agreeing to change what you saw, when, for example --- can snowball. Give in enough and you may find someone asking you to lie.

So, how do we journalists stand up for ourselves, for our reputations, when we meet an editor who won't stand up for our work, or a publisher who doesn't value truthfulness? How do we protect ourselves, our credibility and our reputations?

I wish I had an answer. I'm thinking about what's happening to me and my story right now and, while I wish it was possible to sound off and be heard, to make things better or somehow penalize this publisher for not doing the right thing, it isn't.

My best solution is to stop writing for this magazine. Sadly, it won't matter. Good writers have come and gone before me. Others will follow. My absence will hardly be missed: The world is full of under-published travel writers itching to take my place. Some of these people will stand up for their beliefs and, like me, they'll disappear from the masthead. Others won't be so lucky. Their desire to write for a travel magazine will overrule whatever journalistic code of ethics they once adhered to, and they'll let the story be changed.

In the end little lies in a magazine won't matter to most anyone but the writer. In the end, my standing up for my beliefs will only make my wallet a little skinnier; it won't make the rest of the world a better place. But at least I know that this time next month I won't be covered in mud.