Manti Te'o: A Tough Lesson Learned

When I was first informed about the hoax surrounding star Notre Dame football player Manti Te'o and his deceased girlfriend, I immediately flashed back to the first time I heard about the tragedy. I remember sitting in South Dining Hall when a friend of mine received a cell phone notification: "Oh my God, the girlfriend and grandmother of Manti Te'o both died this week but he is still expected to play on Saturday." My instinctual reaction involved pure sympathy; questioning the truth of the story never even crossed my mind. 

Over the past week, our school has been at the eye of the storm that is the Te'o debacle, which seems to get stranger with every report. Although more questions have been raised than answered, one particular aspect of the story has particularly interested me as an undergraduate journalism student: how did this happen? Why didn't anybody catch the lie before now? 

If you've been paying attention to the coverage in the least, you most likely have read testimonials from many journalists, most notably Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated, who admitted failure in their reporting. Thamel acknowledged three red flags raised during his research following an interview with Te'o- a missing obituary for Lennay Kekua, the lack of record of Kekua attending Stanford University, and the non-existent record of her reported automobile accident during their relationship- that he neglected to pursue. Even reading through the transcript of their interview, it is hard to understand why Thamel did not press further in his investigation of Te'o's relationship with her, which Te'o was undeniably uncomfortable discussing. In total, it has been reported that 21 media organizations fell for the hoax (http://sbn.to/10dDfdW). This is a glaring error on the part of journalists in America. The situation clearly demonstrates the consequences that accompany the diminished amount of investigative journalism that is carried out today.

A partial transcript of Te'o's interview with SI writer Pete Thamel from Sept. 23, 2012

It seems to me another fault of journalists comes in their blind trust for the big-name news outlets. Once they reported the story, it seems other journalists trusted in the story and felt comfortable sharing it without doing the necessary research themselves. The "colossal embarrassment" will hopefully inspire a new wave of diligent research in the media (http://bo.st/VPP3iP).

As a journalist, falling for a hoax like this has many repercussions, not the least of which is losing the trust of your readers. Obviously, questioning the reality of Te'o's relationship with Kekua could be seen as awkward or insensitive. The situation is undeniably weird- who would ever expect someone to have a fake girlfriend? The missteps taken by journalists have been attributed to how unusual the situation is. However, the fact is that Americans expect journalists to have built in bullshit detectors that pick up on lies such as this. It is their job. 

As a journalism student, one of the main lessons drilled into us repeatedly is the importance of asking questions and following leads. In fact, the media has gained the epithet of the "fourth estate" because of the work they do keeping government and people in check. A vital part of their job comes in acting as a watchdog to pick up on scams such as the Te'o hoax and avoid misleading the public. 

This unfortunate incident is an awakening to journalists everywhere: we must ask questions, backup our reports, follow up on inconsistencies and be diligent in our work. The controversy following the hoax has focused on whether or not Te'o was involved with the hoax, if the situation affected Notre Dame's loss in the January 7 BCS Championship game, and the reasons the hoax was designed. These conversations simply distract from the true lesson learned by this event. Journalists today need to hold themselves to a higher standard to ensure that the quality of news provided to the public remains valuable and trustworthy.