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Do not fill this in! ===2018 source-fabrication scandal=== In September 2018, then-executive editor Nancy Barnes released a statement on the ''Chronicle''{{'}}s website notifying readers for the first time that the paper's Austin bureau chief, Mike Ward, had resigned and was the subject of an internal investigation after questions were raised by a staff member over fabricating sources.<ref name="apnews.com">{{cite web |title=Houston Chronicle reporter accused of faking sources resigns |url=https://apnews.com/cb263cd6b23a4f928382d5e2d009f384 |website=AP NEWS |date=September 11, 2018}}</ref> Barnes opted not to disclose the source-fabrication or Ward's resignation to ''Chronicle'' readers and the general public until she was contacted by reporters at other outlets pursuing a story about the ''Chronicle''{{'}}s scandal—one full week after Ward had resigned. By the time Barnes informed the public about what would turn into the biggest journalism scandal of 2018, it had already become one of the worst kept secrets in Austin among the capitol press corps that writes about Texas politicians. The scandal had also become popular fodder among staffers who work at the capital. Within 45 minutes of being contacted by a freelance reporter for the ''Texas Observer'', Barnes hastily issued a press release announcing that one of her reporters bad been caught making up sources over the course of several years. Barnes never explained why the ''Chronicle'' decided against being transparent to it readers immediately, instead of waiting for word to leak to the extent that other news outlets started planning stories.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} The sources being questioned in Ward's reporting were the product of "man-on-the-street" interviews from a story dealing with rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Harvey. Barnes said ''Houston Chronicle'' researchers had problems finding a number of sources quoted in Ward's story, so the newspaper hired investigative journalist David Wood, a Pulitzer Prize winner.<ref name="David Wood of The Huffington Post">{{cite news |title=David Wood of The Huffington Post |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/david-wood |publisher=Pulitzer}}</ref> On November 8, 2018, one day before Barnes left for a position as senior vice president of news at National Public Radio, the ''Houston Chronicle'' released some of Wood's findings. The paper announced it was retracting a total of eight stories.<ref name="chron.com">{{cite news |title=A note from the editor of the Houston Chronicle |url=https://www.chron.com/local/article/A-note-from-the-editor-of-the-Houston-Chronicle-13218790.php |newspaper=Houston Chronicle}}</ref> Barnes later went on to tell ''Columbia Journalism Review'' that the widespread fabrication apparent in Ward's articles was unprecedented, in her experience: "I've been an editor a long time and I have never seen anything like this, period.".<ref name="cjr.org">{{cite magazine |title=Broken trust at the Houston Chronicle |url=https://www.cjr.org/analysis/houston-chronicle-mike-ward.php |magazine=Columbia Journalism Review}}</ref> None of the ''Chronicle''{{'}}s editors responsible for overseeing Ward's stories—including then-managing editor Vernon Loeb—assumed any responsibility for the fact that one of their reporters had been cheating for years under their noses. In many instances over the course of years, Loeb worked directly with Ward and even rewrote his stories for final publication. The ''Austin American Statesman'', where Ward worked as a reporter for 25 years covering the state's political class prior to joining the ''Houston Chronicle'' in 2014, also conducted an internal review of "his final years" of work at the paper.<ref name="statesman.com">{{cite news |title=Former Statesman reporter suspected of fabricating sources at Houston paper |url=https://www.statesman.com/news/20181109/former-statesman-reporter-suspected-of-fabricating-sources-at-houston-paper |newspaper=Austin American Statesman}}</ref> A copy of the original story that led to the investigation has been removed from the ''Chronicle''{{'}}s website. But Austin-based NPR affiliate KUT interviewed Ward for the radio in the days after the story ran and still has the story posted on its website, despite the fact that the sources used in Ward's reporting are suspected of being fake.<ref name="kut.org">{{cite news |title=For Most Affected By Harvey, Anger At Government Has Subsided |url=https://www.kut.org/post/most-affected-harvey-anger-government-has-subsided |publisher=KUT}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page