If Daily Tar Heel opinion editor Chris Coletta’s account is accurate about how Jillian Bandes gathered quotes for her column, then she should have been at least reprimanded if not fired.
Bandes in her column clearly tried to follow Ann Coulter’s provocative style in trying to make points about racial profiling. There’s nothing wrong with that, by itself. The problem is she gathered quotes herself directly from sources under a false premise, according to Coletta. Again, if that’s true, then it’s unethical.
Coletta said the Arab students that Bandes quoted gave their comments with the understanding that she was writing a story about Arab-American relations post 9/11, and racial profiling was discussed in that context. But Bandes introduced their quotes with this lead-in:
“I want Arabs to get sexed up like nothing else.
And Arab students at UNC don’t seem to think that’s such a bad idea.”
Had those students known that’s how their comments were going to be used, they almost certainly would have spoken differently.
The difference between how Coulter operates and what Bandes did is that Coulter uses quotes that are already in the public domain. She doesn’t go out and interview people, as far as I can tell. She mostly uses quotes that have been delivered to the media or public forums in proper contexts, which is fair game to make fun of.
Bandes appeared to ask questions to elicit an answer she might not have otherwise gotten, if she asked them in the way she intended to use them. In fact, the one quote she did get from the Arab professor contradicts her point about Arabs getting “sexed up:”
“It depends on how I’m stopped, but if it is done in a professional manner?”
Then he nodded.
I believe how she handled herself violated a journalistic ethic, whether it’s in some sort of written code or not. If as she was writing her column she found herself taking a turn towards addressing the issue of racial profiling, then she should have told those Arabs she quoted of her intentions, and given them an opportunity to respond.
Just because it’s the opinion pages doesn’t mean those ethics go out the window.
