Now Wait for Last Year
Mitch Albom, sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, TV and radio personality, and author of Tuesdays with Morrie, is back after his short suspension during the Freep's investigation into his ethics violation.
What did he do? He reported something in the past tense that he believed would happen but that didn't happen.
Albom, in a column he submitted April 1 for April 3 publication, wrote about something he thought would happen on April 2. Albom had interviewed two NBA players about their plans to get together at the April 2 NCAA basketball game between Michigan State and North Carolina. Then he wrote in the past tense about their experiences at the game. But scheduling conflicts caused the two players to miss the game.
Perhaps in some sort of Dickian stupor, he forgot which universe or time he was in when he filed the story.
At any rate, for this breach he was suspended for less than a month.
Journalists who thought he should be fired for the violation were none too pleased at the news:
Your decision undermines the work of every honest journalist in this country who must battle the naysayers who discount our work by saying we are reporting stories only to sell papers. Your decision proves that newspapers do sacrifice ethics to preserve or boost circulation, and that makes this a very sad day for every journalist who is committed to the truth.
Albom can now return to the topic he was covering before his brief suspension: the gross hypocrisy of Congress and baseball owners in dealing with the steroids problem.
5:27:39 PM 
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