There is another Jayson Blair-type fabrication story coming out of New York City. Only this time it's the offbeat Village Voice, not the staid New York Times looking foolish.
And it involves an issue I've been covering extensively of late--the Department of Education's war on for-profit colleges.
From the Gawker:
Rob Sgobbo a young writer for the New York Daily News, has had a freelance story he wrote yanked from the Village Voice's website. He apparently fabricated sources and lied about his reporting. (Update: the NYDN has canned him.)Here is a statement from the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities about the scandal:
Did he ever! Bourges' sob story is central to Sgobbo's story.
"My parents never made a lot of money, so I was hoping that with a business bachelor's degree, I could go into banking," says Bourges, who describes her high school performance as "OK." She received B's and C's in most of her classes, but performed poorly on the SAT. "Harvard was out of the question," she laughs.Etc. Ortega writes that Sgobbo also lied about speaking to a Berkeley spokesperson, and totally invented a spokesperson for the GAO. A source at the NYDN—where Sgobbo has more than 70 bylines—says of him, "He seemed like one of the brighter interns."
APSCU Statement on Village VoiceRelated posts:
Retracting Fabricated Story, "For-Profit Blues"
January 7, 2011, Washington, D.C.— Harris Miller, President of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU), released the following statement today about the Village Voice retracting its story, "For-Profit Blues," after learning that key facts and sources, including an imaginary student, had been entirely fabricated:
The news that a reporter for the Village Voice made up a story, including creating a fake person, in an effort to attack private sector colleges and universities presents yet another example of how our critics are promoting false, inaccurate, and biased information in an attempt to limit educational opportunities provided to non-traditional students.Wall Street short-sellers have long engaged in a campaign to discredit private sector colleges and universities. Last summer, a letter signed by homeless shelter managers was later shown to be instigated by an investment firm seeking to foment negative media coverage of the sector. A report on PSCUs issued by the Government Accountability Office recently also contained several misrepresentations. The report was later revised.
Today's exposure of the fake story raises real questions about whether a coordinated smear campaign is under way against schools that give opportunity to 3.2 million hard working -- and entirely real -- students. Rather than telling a story of how imaginary students are supposedly singing the blues, this "journalist" should be red-faced with embarrassment for being caught in misstatements and outright lies.
Miller continued:
Though frustrated by another erroneous story, our institutions are keeping their focus on serving the students who are seeking job skills, career advancement and a better life by attending private sector colleges and universities. And we are continuing our ongoing efforts to work with the Administration and the new Congress to ensure that our schools can operate in an environment that's fair to all higher education institutions, and can continue to be part of our country’s comprehensive approach to increasing access to higher education and career advancement for students from all backgrounds who want choices in their post-secondary approach.About APSCU: The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities is a voluntary membership organization of accredited, private post-secondary schools, institutes, colleges and universities that provide career-specific educational programs. APSCU has more than 1,800 members that educate and support over one million students each year for employment in over 200 occupational fields. APSCU member institutions provide the full range of higher education programs: Master’s and doctoral degree programs, two- and four-year associate and baccalaureate degree programs, and short-term certificate and diploma programs. Visit APSCU at apscu.org or follow us on Twitter: apscunow. On September 22, 2010, APSCU changed its name from the Career College Association.
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