Case Study 3

Protocols Anecdote

An editor at The Gainesville Sun made a mistake when he assumed that two sources, a homosexual couple, were heterosexual.

Even though one of the sources was named Leslie, a gender-neutral name, the editor should have never assumed that she was a man.

Instead of consulting with the reporter, the editor changed the feminine pronoun “she” to “he.”

As stated in The Charlotte Observer protocols, an editor should always consult with the reporter before making “any change that could alter the meaning of even one sentence in the story in such a way that might make it inaccurate.”

I have never had to deal with an issue like this in a newsroom, but I have dealt with it in my life. People always assume that I am not Jewish because I am Hispanic or that I am not Hispanic because I am Jewish. Sometimes they even try to pronounce my last name with a Spanish accent, which just sounds funny.

When I applied to the University of Florida as a Hispanic minority, one of my peers disapproved. When I asked him why he was upset about it, he told me that it wasn’t fair to lie in my application. I told him that I was born in Colombia, and he said something along the lines of “But your last name is Leventhal, aren’t you Jewish?”

I then had to explain to him that there are many Jewish people who immigrated to Central and South America during war times.

The editor at The Sun should have never assumed that Leslie was a man. The process of editing is a team process; the editor and reporter must work together to produce the best piece to publish. The editor should never make any major change to the lede, tone or content of an article without reporter approval.