ARLINGTON, Va., April 22 (UPI) -- USA Today said Thursday that laxity, fear and a star system enabled a former reporter to pen fabricated and plagiarized stories for years.
The paper devoted an entire page to detailing the findings of an independent panel of editors in the Jack Kelley case.
The investigative report also faulted Kelley, who resigned in January and apologized Wednesday. The editors found Kelley exploited the newspaper's weaknesses by using ties with top editors to deflect some suspicions about his work.
"Jack Kelley thrived as a dishonest journalist for a dozen years. Every executive that served during the years he betrayed readers shares USA Today's embarrassment," wrote Bill Hilliard, Bill Kovach and John Seigenthaler, the veteran editors who led a two-and-a-half month investigation.
The scandal brought down Editor Karen Jurgensen, who retired abruptly Tuesday. She had held her post since 1999.
