Unfortunately they were led astray. According to hardcopy evidence displayed in a personal conversation with Lynn Brewer, along with information gathered through my own personal investigation, every assertion in the article simply demonstrates how a journalist at USAToday (Greg Farrell) used his soapbox for devastating results. The very hard-hitting journalism and seemingly top-notch article were all created by a man who really needed to look in the mirror and expose his own personal agendas. Over a dozen sources ranging from BloggingStocks were sucked into a fraudulent support of the article, likely under the presumption that an author at USAToday would double-check facts before releasing such an article.
Presuming that such investigation happened would be normally be correct, for a reputable, major media outlet. In this instance however, that investigation went down a painful path of personal and professional motives. Greg was actually provided with actual copies of pay stubs, Lynn’s letter of resignation, travel receipts, parking tickets, and even invited to listen to the audio of Ken Lay’s secretary confirming personal appointments with Lynn Brewer. For reasons that were not very apparent in the article which I will detail, the factual information was specifically left out or even flatly wrong.
As a consultant for online reputation management and how social media and technology is changing the way news is released, I have covered the use of media tools and news syndication services again and again. I have detailed ethical uses of media to cover news stories and I have also added my own research of the “facts” covered by other stories to really compare the situation… and analyze how social media has the ability to both create and ruin professional reputation. In this case social media was directly fueled by a fire started with a traditional media article and that caused a significant impact to a business woman’s online reputation.
Thousands injured…After Greg Farrell released his story, tens of thousands of readers saw the article both in the print and online versions of USAToday. It then went through a week long cascade of being reposted by several online news blogs and syndication services, eventually dying down after a full week of exposure. During this time, readers of the article relayed information to Lynn Brewer and her professional contacts, causing potential damage to both her reputation and the company she has worked diligently over the past 6 years to build.
Since USAToday is such a well-known media outlet, dozens of individuals who relied on Greg Farrell’s article wrote various pieces supporting the viewpoint and the tone in his article. The social media mob felt justified in throwing stones at a professional who has spent six years encouraging companies to “become something better”.
When the facts become revealed: How does a professional feel when they have been “duped” by a unsubstantiated news story?Here is a short list of bloggers and news sources who supported the article (without due investigation) and put themselves in a professional bind by exposing their readership to the article:
CONDÉ NAST PORTFOLIO, which is a sister site in the same network of sites such as VanityFair.comThe Bing Blog, a child of BloggingStocks.com, a member of Wizbang’s Jim AddisonThe Wired GC, a former general counsel in the Midwest and founder of Lexvista Partners provides CFO’s, CIO’s, CTO’s and senior compliance managers with the
Lynn Brewer is author of The Integrity Institute, a company focused on providing the tools and consulting needed to promote corporate sustainability and identify future Enrons.
“Corporate Crooks”, a competitive book that tries to identify points of corporate sustainability and of predicting future Enrons.
contributing author at Integrity International; another competitive business to Lynn Brewer’s Integrity Institute. (I would love to know if there is a payroll slip there…)
According to Greg’s article, Lynn was sent to London to do a corporate training and never showed up… but she has a parking ticket from that visit for the right time frame, and just several blocks away from the building she did the training in. Apparently her car made the trip to the training location but she was somehow out in the countryside enjoying a personal vacation.
In summary of the article written by Greg Farrell, from my perspective the article:
- Seems entirely biased without full-disclosure.
- Is more focused on being a personal attack rather than real journalism.
- Leads the reader down a path of half-presented information, denying readers basic facts and the ability to decide for themselves.
- Was the catalyst that triggered pack mentality across the social media blogosphere.
The USAToday story defines clear issues at the newspaper, and in across the current media distribution channels:
- We cannot assume that stories are in fact true.
- We cannot assume that journalists present non-biased articles.
- We cannot assume that the basic facts given are accurate.
- Lastly, we cannot assume that syndicated information on other news sites is true, non-biased, accurate, or even remotely on-target.
As media figureheads and as evangelists of ethical and moral journalism, we must not shed our responsibility to question everything and confirm what we are told. Each and every one of us has the duty to examine the issues deeper than the media paparazzi trying to get onto the cover of the next grocery store magazine or sell advertising to a pop-culture audience. We cannot rid ourselves of this responsibility to the public by syndicating stories without disclosing and investigating all of the facts.
Knowing that major drama based media companies will always produce ethically challenged stories driven by advertising campaigns, I’m placing a challenge to all social media journalists: to raise the bar of true journalism by presenting as many facts as we can and working together to reveal what major news outlets hide.
This is a critical subject, requiring on-going debate and meriting all of our efforts to produce journalism that raises the bar for future of our media. My own disclaimer: this is the personal review and commentary of Barry Hurd. My sister works as a consultant with the Integrity Institute which is founded by Lynn Brewer. Lynn Brewer is a personal friend. Lynn Brewer is also a client of my company:Suggest a Correction
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