Painful Price of Unethical Conduct

Teaganne Finn, journalist

People make mistakes in their professions and can also knowingly commit errors. Sometimes those errors are relatively minor and other times they are egregious and prove terribly costly to careers.

Headline: NBC News Political Reporter Teaganne Finn Out After 11 Stories Corrected for Plagiarism

Clearly a serious deficiency in ethical judgment and practice, especially for a young professional in media, with aspirations for upward mobility and the rewards that come with it.

This story inspired questions and this roundtable answered them. The guests include Kyle Ankney,
head of public relations at Red Heifer Media; Scott Miller, the CEO of Centerpost Media, and also Tracy A. Pearson, J.D., Ed.D., a legal and cultural analyst on the Law and Crime Network.

Kyle Ankney

How will this news of Teaganne Finn losing her job affect her reputation and career prospects moving forward?

Ankney: Honesty and integrity are keystones in journalism. The reputation of an outlet and the quality of its reporting are the core elements that create distinction between the networks. Teaganne Finn has, in my opinion, destroyed her credibility, and I believe it is going to be incredibly difficult for her to remain on the career trajectory she previously enjoyed.

Miller: In the news, plagiarism is one of the forbidden sins. It will be hard for Finn to find work as a reporter, but perhaps, the story we need to be discussing is the pressure put on reporters in the current 24/7 news cycle.

Pearson: In the media industry, reputation is everything. Historically, the news was reliable and could be counted on to provide truth. Over the years, major networks and publications no longer primarily relied on viewer and reader money, but advertising dollars. Those companies also have an interest in associating with reputable organizations.

Journalists have seen severe response from their employers. NBC News took swift and severe action against its former long-time anchor Brian Williams when he fabricated statements about misrepresenting an incident in Iraq, removing him as managing editor and anchor for the Nightly News, suspending him for six months and returning him incrementally to a different network, MSNBC. Dan Rather departed CBS under a cloud because of concerns about the authenticity of documents. Because of his prior reputation, his lawsuit against CBS, and questions about whether documents were or were not fraudulent, slowly, Rather has continued employment as a journalist and writer. Steve Glass is a former journalist most factually similar to Finn.

He was a former journalist for The New Republic. After it was discovered that he had fabricated a not insignificant number of publications, over 40 articles, not only was he terminated from TNR, but after attending law school, he was denied bar admission in New York and California. In that situation, Glass, though he produced some work intermittently, he was not only unsuccessful in resuming his promising career as a journalist, but denied access to a license in two states for a profession, like journalism, relies on truthfulness.

If history is a predictor of the future, Finn will be unlikely to find employment in the media industry in so much as the role of journalist.

Scott Miller

If Finn could somehow find a new media role, what will need to happen to make it happen?

Ankney: There is some version of the modern-day ‘Scarlett Letter’ press tour in situations such as this, most likely after some time away. Usually, after writing a book, where the individual admits wrongdoing but tries to rationalize and explain the reasons for making the choices they did: pressure to perform, competition, ‘lack of resources,’ etc. Assuming some version of the above scenario takes place and is successful, there is a possibility she may find a path forward.

Miller: It's tough to say that Teaganne Finn will be able to work as a reporter due to the scope of plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious matter in this industry, and I can detect that these actions were intentional on her part.

Pearson: Finn will need to establish trust amongst her colleagues. Fellow journalists are the people who will hire her. Journalists see plagiarism as one of the most significant betrayals of the profession, next only to revealing one's sources, which must be protected to get reliable information.

Trust is trust the world round. Regaining trust requires admission of responsibility, explanation without defensiveness, atonement in some manner, and a demonstration that the behavior is not an endemic character flaw. As with Glass, who admitted conduct and even made restitution to Harper's Magazine, TNR, Rolling Stone, and the publisher of the Policy Review, that wasn't enough.

She might consider helping to educate aspiring journalists, which would be a service to the profession. If she can get employment, like Brian Williams did after his suspension and removal as anchor of the NBC Nightly News, it will take years of consistent demonstration that the behavior was an anomaly for the public to trust Finn.

The public has a relatively long memory. With social media and republication by tweet, the old rule of an institution has a six-month memory, is no longer accurate. On the internet, errors of judgment live forever.

This sounds dire for Finn. Career destroying. Painful.

Ankney: The phrase ‘never say never’ exists for a reason. With the right connections, people can overcome almost anything. It's impossible to give a definitive answer; however, I can confidently say that Ms. Finn is destined to become another cautionary tale to future journalist students for decades.

Miller: NBC was right to dismiss Finn and come clean about the plagiarism that was discovered. Unfortunately, it is hard to see another respectful news department hiring her again, but there may be an off-beat online publication interested.

Pearson: Initially, she should be fortunate to get freelance work. The state of the industry is that it is shrinking. Newsrooms are shedding personnel.

Second, anyone hiring Finn will take a risk. Organizations are cautious about risk because poor decisions and poor judgment can lead to public outcry which can cost an organization money and reputation, which affects financial stability over the long-term. Writers, freelance writers, are more prevalent now than ever. Therefore, if she can secure employment as a journalist, she will operate as an independent contractor, most likely, and for smaller publications.