SiteYou Ask, We Answer: How do I deal with an unethical editor?
Chryselle writes: I’ve just had a feature published in my local paper and the editor in charge of the section has attributed the article to herself!! My 1500 word article was cut into half (of which I had been informed earlier) and the editor in question had emailed me saying that while they could not pay, she was happy to use my name.
The published article has been changed to the third person, quoting me in the first paragraph and elsewhere and is credited to the editor! Every word in the article is by me - but it appears as if she has interviewed me and the others quoted (who I interviewed), when in fact she had nothing to do with the article except giving me the go-ahead on my query!
I have been published by this editor before, but this is outrageous! I was too upset to speak with her on the phone so I’ve sent her an email asking for an explanation and retraction. Still haven’t heard back from her and am wondering if I should take it up further.
I did the article for free because it would have been a good clip and a promotional tool locally. I don’t know if this was intentional or an oversight. In the absence of a reply, I can only guess.
Is this a common occurrence?
I’m not going to write for them again certainly. The little publicity is not worth the hard work and the hours put in to get the writing done. I know I should put it behind me and go look for clips elsewhere but I feel like fighting for my words.
Any wise words to calm me down?
Chryselle, that is sick and wrong. Strangely, something similar happened to me once: A university professor took an article of mine, quoted me in it as if he had interviewed me, and had it published in his university paper with his byline. I contacted the paper and they took the article down. Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t sound like your editor is about to do the right thing.
You’ve been burned. However, maybe this will be the incentive you need to look for work that pays you and gives you a byline. You mention that you’ve worked with this editor before, which means you should have a clip already. One free clip is plenty — use that to move on to bigger and better things. After all, as they say, living well is the best revenge. Let that editor rot at her cheap, unethical publication while you rake in cash and fame using the clips you earned there.
Also, rest assured that this is a rare occurrence. While you’ll turn up a few rotten apples in the editing game, most editors are ethical, friendly, and fair. Don’t let this one situation turn you off on freelancing altogether.
Have advice for Chryselle? Post it in the comments!
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10 Responses to “You Ask, We Answer: How do I deal with an unethical editor?”
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Said this on July 23rd, 2007 at 9:00am:How unfair! I would contact the executive editor or editor-in-chief.
Chryselle
Said this on July 23rd, 2007 at 11:50am:Hi everybody,
An update on this rather unpleasant situation : The editor got back to me a couple of days later saying that while she was sorry that I was upset, I should be prepared for newspaper editors to “re-write” my work to suit their needs. She then went on to recommend that I would do well in PR and maybe I should try that instead!!!
In my experience (and of those I’ve spoken to on the subject), while it is the editor’s privilege to edit work to suit the house style, it is unethical to attribute it to someone else other than the writer. That, in my opinion, was out of line.
Not satisfied with her rather cheeky reply, I complained to the Managing Editor, who spoke with me and offered me a compromise : A reprint of my original article with my name on their website, but no retraction of the original article. He also said that when they re-wrote the article they changed it to sound as if they had quoted me and that (in their opinion) was “credit” for my work (!) And this is supposed to be a big, reputed local paper.
I have decided not to take up their offer. The article can be re-written and resubmitted elsewhere for a fee (no more freebies!). This experience has taught me two things : one, never to write for free and two, always have a contract before submission - a written acceptance does not seem to have any value (I had one from this editor).
Hope other newbies learn from my experiences!
Best wishes,
Chryselle
http://writersblocindia.wordpress.com
John Matthew
Said this on July 24th, 2007 at 2:22am:My God! I can’t believe this can happen. Personally, though, I haven’t had any comparable experience in my writing career.
Kayleen
Said this on July 24th, 2007 at 7:57am:This happened to me once, but it was actually done without my consent or knowing that my article was being used. I did a Google search on my name and found it was part of an online article by a man whom I had never met or talked to. He had written an article and used a story I had written as part of an illustration. My article was 500 words. He used the entire thing, changing only the pronouns to sound as though he had written it after interviewing me.
Since this was an article I had published a couple of times, I had proof it was my original work and contacted the online editor. He was appalled at this error in ethics, saying he didn’t know anything about it. I believed him and asked him to remove it from his organization’s website, which he did. He also contacted the writer to say they would never use his work again.
I thought that would have taken care of it, but when I Googled my name again a few weeks later, I saw the same thing happening with the same writer in another publication! I again contacted the editor. He called the writer and talked with him, then called me back to say the writer did not believe he had done anything wrong!
The second publisher removed my article at my request and said he would seriously reconsider what to do about the writer’s conduct for future articles. This writer, by the way, had published several books and was considered somewhat of an expert on the subject of my article which was forgiveness.
Ironic, huh?
I hoped the whole matter was done with and that the writer had learned his lesson. Then one day not long after he called me at work! I had never given him my contact information or even contacted him at all. He found out where I worked from the Internet – my company listed me as an employee and he easily found the phone number.
I thought this was creepy, but he seemed sane enough. I knew he lived halfway across the country.
Here was his explanation: He said he had taken other people’s stories in the past and re-written them to fit into his stories and “No one ever complained,†he said. They probably didn’t know it, I thought.
I told him I earned money from that story and it was mine to do with as I pleased. He had no right to take advantage of my work and use it for his own gain.
By the time we hung up, he still had not admitted that what he did was wrong, but he agreed not to use anything with my byline on it again.
The frustrating thing is, I don’t trust him and it is only the online sources that alerted me to what he was doing. If he has used my name in hard copy versions, I would not know it.
The lesson I learned from this is to Google my name regularly. I now check it weekly and use every other search engine as well.
It’s a better resource than nothing for keeping an eye on our writer friends who are less than ethical.
Justin
Said this on July 24th, 2007 at 6:26pm:I’d suggest a nice hex of some kind. If you’d like, I can talk to my wife about some sort of gypsy curse.
She’s only 1/32 gypsy, though, so she really can’t promise anything beyond a really inconvenient zit. Still, who wants a big ol’ whitehead on their honker when they have a big date?
Chryselle
Said this on July 25th, 2007 at 3:28pm:Justin, a hex seems like a good idea! Every time I think back about what happened, the attitude of this editor bugs me more than her actions. She did not acknowledge that she did anything wrong and her email replies to my request for an explanation were very patronizing. I don’t know if she does this to other writers on a regular basis, but new writers would do well to check and recheck the terms of publication before handing over their words.
I got plenty of free publicity because of the article (I was quoted in it as one of the sources!). Local people have told me what a nice article it was (I want to tell them “*I* wrote it!) and would I be interested in helping out with similar projects! Initially, I tried telling people it was *my* article, then realized that most people didn’t really care about the byline. They found the article interesting and remembered that I was featured in it.
I’d still rather have my byline.
Maybe some good will come out of this. At least it has got me determined to be careful in future!
Chryselle
LindaFormichelli
Said this on July 25th, 2007 at 10:12pm:Kayleen, some people are just clueless.
Justin, I think the humongous zit is a fine curse…it’s probably hard to steal writers’ work when you’re distracted by a giant pimple.
Totally OT, but your hex reminds me: I’m working on a book chapter about skin disorders, and I told a PR person, “Let your dermatologist source choose the disorders he’d like to do. I’ve already got pimples, moles, and excessive hair growth.” Smooth!
Eliza Amos
Said this on July 26th, 2007 at 11:35am:I know that you’re asking for advice, not commiseration, but I just want to say that I feel your pain. An online article of mine (for which I was paid moderately) was stolen and misappropriated for publication in a book. I was at the bookstore one day and just found it–BAM. I was REALLY angry at first, but have (so far) chosen not to address it. We writers shouldn’t take this kind of thing lying down, to be sure. But sometimes, fighting for a paltry dime and a byline is too all-consuming. My advice: try not to dwell on it too much and let it make you bitter, and take your newfound savvy with you to the next gig.
Justin
Said this on July 26th, 2007 at 12:26pm:I’m generally a glass-if-half-empty kinda guy, but I was thinking more about this on my way in this morning and realized you might be able to use this in your favor. They rewrote the article and made it sound like they quoted you, right? Now it’s like you’re a documented expert in this field… Next time you pitch an idea on this particular subject, instead of using that article as a clip maybe you could use it as evidence that you’re qualified to tackle the subject. You’re the expert Senor Sleazy quoted, right? You must be the right person to write about it…
Chryselle
Said this on July 30th, 2007 at 5:30am:Great idea, Justin! This might make looking at the article bearable again. I haven’t looked at it again since the day it came out…