Editor’s Note: I deeply regret the mistakes printed in the last issue of The Bulletin. I am sorry to those that were misquoted. I chose to publish this story on the front page of The Bulletin in an effort to maintain transparency when we make mistakes. As fabrication and misquoting sources is a fireable offense at The Bulletin, which we take extremely seriously, the reporter, Alec Walberg, no longer works for The Bulletin. Each story will be corrected in following issues and each of Walberg’s past stories will be checked for any errors.
The two stories entitled “Security cameras installed across campus” and “Holy bat spotting, ESU” were both written by Alec Walberg, a former staff writer for The Bulletin. Due to a number of misattributed quotes and inaccurate information, Walberg has been terminated from his position.
“It was never my intention to print false information or to discredit The Bulletin in any way,” Walberg said. “I look up to a lot of The Bulletin’s reporting and what they do is very good for our campus. I’m just sad that my lack of experience, in a way, and lack of following through and not being thorough enough ended my educational journey with The Bulletin.”
“Holy bat spotting, ESU” was a story about the multiple issues Emporia State has had with bats on their campus. It appeared, in the story, as if Officer Donald Shaefer of ESU Police and Safety had given an interview request when he had not been talked to at all.
“I spelled the wrong “Schaefer” as there were two Schaefer’s credited in the article, one being a responding officer and one being a student interviewed about bats and their locale and their habits on campus,” Walberg said. “That was a dumb editing mistake on my part.”
For the “Security cameras installed across campus” story, Walberg believed that he was interviewing Chris Hoover from ESU police and safety.
Hoover did not remember speaking to Walberg, and upon review of the interview audio, it’s clear that it was not Hoover speaking.
“When I was speaking to whoever I speaking to, I was under the impression it was Chris Hoover, it apparently was someone else in the once,” Walberg said. “I was directed towards whoever was most informative about the topic of the security cameras.”
Additionally, several facts from the story were inaccurate such as when and how many cameras were installed.
“I believe I’m leaving on somewhat good grounds,” Walberg said. “I wish them all the best in their future endeavors with reporting.”