The Guardian apologises for employing rogue journalist
The Guardian has apologised to its readers after discovering that a freelance journalist on its books had been falsifying statements and fabricating quotes.
An investigation conducted by an independent fact checker uncovered 13 articles written by Joseph Mayton, who had written for the title since 2009, where he was unable to provide convincing evidence that published interviews had ever taken place.
This included coverage of two events which organisers confirmed Mayton hadn’t attended and dozens of sources which could not be traced.
The investigation was undertaken after several sources came forward to state that they had never spoken with the writer in question.
In her column Guardian US editor Lee Glendinning wrote: “We want to apologize to those people whose words were misrepresented or falsified. We also want to say sorry to you, our readers, for the errors that have been made here, and hope that it has not compromised the trust you place in the Guardian. We assure you we will do better.”
Mayton strenuously denies any wrongdoing, penning an open letter to defend his reputation where he wrote: "
“These accusations are incorrect and I have provided evidence showing that many sources had in fact spoken with me and either did not remember or refused to be truthful.
“The claim that I fabricated stories is wrong.”