Firing intern hypocritical

Matt McCann, an intern at the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, was fired in May after writing a story about staff at the University of New Brunswick upset at giving Premier Shawn Graham an honourary degree, CBC News reported June 5.

The Telegraph-Journal ran the story on its front page, but fired McCann the next day.

McCann told CBC that the newspaper’s editor told him the story was unbalanced and had damaged the good working relationship the paper had established with the University.

The Telegraph-Journal didn’t comment on the decision, saying it’s an internal matter.

It’s hypocritical to fire an intern when the newspaper’s senior staff chose to publish the story anyway. Reporters shouldn’t be punished for editorial decisions that are out of their hands.

McCann, who was starting his second summer at the paper, said there were some minor errors in the story, such as spelling a name incorrectly and getting Graham’s undergraduate degree wrong.

Internships are designed to provide learning experiences. They aren’t about punishing small mistakes. It’s even more alarming that the newspaper appears more concerned with maintaining a good relationship with the University than one of its own staff. If media outlets shy away from critical coverage of public institutions, they are shirking their responsibilities and creating a toxic environment in which reporters fear for their jobs when they write controversial stories.

There should be mechanisms in place to protect reporters, even from an editor or newspaper who may be against the stories they write.

The Telegraph-Journal is run by Jamie Irving of the Irving industrialist family. The Graham government has been criticized for its friendliness to the Irving companies’ corporate needs.

Bowing to outside pressures at the expense of journalistic autonomy and integrity sets a dangerous precedent for the newspaper. Using McCann as a scapegoat shows the newspaper might be under the thumbs of damaging influences.

It’s good to see McCann landed on his feet and will serve as the editor in chief of the newspaper at his school, St. Thomas University in Fredericton.

The Telegraph-Journal’s readers should be unsettled by this decision. As for McCann, we wish him all the best in his journalistic endeavours.

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

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