After my column appeared, a handful of readers called me to support my position - including a caller who identified himself as an investigative reporter at a competing newspaper. The open disagreement comes with an ombudsman's territory. An obviously altered news release purporting to be from the National Association of Realtors soon appeared on the newsroom bulletin board. I guess such sniping comes with the territory too. But it doesn't change my mind.
Credibility is our most important asset.
And if we deceive people in order to do our job, we've compromised that credibility before a word is written. Henry McNulty is reader representative for The Hartford Courant . I can't say we'd never misrepresent ourselves, but I haven't met the situation where it would be necessary in 15 years. But active misrepresentation undercuts the power of what's written. The only thing a journalist has is his credibility.