SIU newspaper hoax

[Goldmember]

College newspaper admits series of stories was hoax

By Jim Suhr

Associated Press

 

CARBONDALE -- Kodee Kennings' story was pure gold.

For nearly two years the motherless 8-year-old spoke and wrote movingly of her struggle to deal with her soldier father being shipped off to fight in Iraq, and Southern Illinois University's student newspaper chronicled her thoughts in its pages.

 

There is no Kodee Kennings, however, and the elaborate hoax exposed Friday left The Daily Egyptian shamefaced.

 

"Certainly for us it's a sad day," said Eric Fidler, Daily Egyptian faculty adviser for the past year. "Some good can come from this, but it doesn't help our reputation. All we can do is be upfront with what happened and what we know."

 

A 2004 SIU graduate who posed as Kodee's guardian says she and a former Daily Egyptian editor concocted the story to help his career. He vehemently denies that and says he was duped, too.

 

A 10-year-old girl who posed as Kodee in public appearances and a man who pretended to be her father say they were unwitting participants in the scam, believing they were acting in a film.

 

Jackson County's prosecutor did not immediately return messages Friday asking whether the hoax could result in criminal charges.

 

The tale began to unravel last week when the Egyptian heard that the soldier had been killed in Iraq and subsequent investigations by the Chicago Tribune and the student newspaper exposed that he didn't exist.

 

The Egyptian issued a complete retraction, apology and a news article Friday explaining what happened.

 

"There is no pleasant way to put it," the Egyptian said. "We didn't check the facts carefully. We believed what we were told without verifying."

 

The tale began with a news story written by student Michael Brenner. The article, which appeared on May 6, 2003, described the emotional parting of Kodee and her father, Sgt. Dan Kennings, as he left Fort Campbell, Ky., for Iraq.

 

"Please don't leave," Kodee begged in the story. "I'll be good if you stay. I won't get in trouble."

 

After that article, the newspaper published letters and columns from Kodee about the difficulty of being apart from her father.

 

"Daddy I love you," Kodee wrote in a letter to her father. "Can you kill all the bad guys now so Air Force One can bring you home?"

 

The last of the girl's columns appeared in the newspaper in July of last year.

 

Jaimie Reynolds, a former SIU radio and television student, acknowledged pretending to be Kodee's guardian when confronted by Chicago Tribune reporters Wednesday. A woman who answered the door Friday at the Marion home where Reynolds lives refused to comment.

 

Reynolds earlier said she and Brenner invented the story.

 

"Mike is my best friend," Reynolds told the Tribune. "In the last couple of years he's had a hard time with his career. He asked me if I would help him out. I said I would. It just got a little bigger than he told me it would."

 

"That is absolutely ridiculous," Brenner said late Friday in denying he helped concoct the story. "I was a year-and-a-half from graduation and had no career to advance."

 

Brenner said he was blinded by his emotions and didn't see the hoax.

 

"It is a horrible, horrible thing to do," he said.

 

Brenner, who served a semester as the Daily Egyptian's editor-in-chief before graduating in December, told the Tribune, "The last two years of my life, I don't know what to believe."

 

Reynolds, who did not have a listed telephone number, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

 

State Journal-Register editor Barry Locher said the paper is going to fact-check Brenner's past stories.

 

"We've decided to take a good, hard look at everything he's done for us," Locher said.

 

Kodee was played by 10-year-old Caitlin Hadley, who lived in Buffalo, Ky., and later Montpelier, Ind., and was driven to Carbondale by Reynolds, who knew her family.

 

"It was sort of weird, but I had a lot of fun," Caitlin said of her acting. She said Reynolds told her that everybody she met in Carbondale was in the movie.

 

"We were always on camera, but I didn't see any cameras," Caitlin told the Tribune.

 

Her father, Rich Hadley, said Caitlin is having trouble coping with what happened.

 

"She's very sad. She will just burst into tears out of the blue. At one point she turned to me and asked, 'Did Jaimie like me?'" he told the Daily Egyptian.

 

The Hadleys could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. They do not have a public telephone listing.

 

Sgt. Kennings was played by Patrick Trovillion, a Reynolds acquaintance who said he believed he was portraying a cocky soldier in a legitimate movie.

 

"This really chaps me a little bit," Trovillion said. "That ain't no way to treat our armed forces."

 

Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole said he thinks the paper should be cut some slack because it is a student-run publication. But he said the volume of stories it published makes the mistake hard to forgive.

 

"One story could be written off as an error. But I think they did a dozen," he said.

 

As for the perpetrators of the hoax, Cole said: "It was definitely compelling. They certainly went the whole nine yards to make the case."

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Copyright © 2005, Pantagraph Publishing Co. All rights reserved.

[Texsox]

So much of what we take for granted in our society is based on trust. Just driving down the road we trust the oncoming car will not swerve into our lane. We trust the company that packaged our food followed sanitation rules. And our journalists must trust people are telling the truth. Sadly, that isn't always the case.

[YASNY]

So much of what we take for granted in our society is based on trust. Just driving down the road we trust the oncoming car will not swerve into our lane. We trust the company that packaged our food followed sanitation rules. And our journalists must trust people are telling the truth. Sadly, that isn't always the case.

 

And we must trust that our journalists are truthful as well. I'd Rather not bring up some of the deceptions that have recently been foisted upon us by the media.

[Kyyle23]

I have read Kodee Kennings stories many times. But I thought it was more of a deliberate hoax, i never thought any of the stories were actually written by a little girl whose father was in Iraq. Its a shame that everyone was duped, and apologies were necessary.

[Brian]

When I was at SIU the most controversial thing the Daily Egyptian ever wrote was when the spoiled the ending of Scream 3 the weekend it came out. Movie sucked anyway.

[Texsox]

During my tenure as Editor in Chief of the College of Lake County Chronicle we published personal ads. To get things started, the feature editor placed one, I responded, and we had a hot, fictional romance going for several issues. It wasn't until other people started commenting that we realized some people really believed the stuff. Thankfully it was in personal ads and not editorial copy.

[Punch and Judy Garland]

Proud to be a Saluki this week!

[Texsox]

Proud to be a Saluki this week!

 

Is Halloween still huge?

[YASNY]

Is Halloween still huge?

 

No. Carbondale has pretty well put the clamps on that. It has been toned down dramatically.

[Texsox]

No.  Carbondale has pretty well put the clamps on that. It has been toned down dramatically.

 

IIRC the last time I was there in late October was 1983 or 1984 and it was unbelievable. Not quite as crazy as Mardi Gras, but getting damn close.

[Kyyle23]

IIRC the last time I was there in late October was 1983 or 1984 and it was unbelievable.  Not quite as crazy as Mardi Gras, but getting damn close.

 

The Students tried to recapture the magic in 1990, 95, a little bit in 96, and 2000. they did nothing but get arrested, and ruin Halloween for every student after them. its a shame too, it used to be really fun, street vendors, bands, no policy about open containers. The dips***s always ruin it for everyone else.

[Brian]

The Students tried to recapture the magic in 1990, 95, a little bit in 96, and 2000. they did nothing but get arrested, and ruin Halloween for every student after them.  its a shame too, it used to be really fun, street vendors, bands, no policy about open containers. The dips***s always ruin it for everyone else.

 

I was off campus in 2000 but I had two friends who weren't doing anything but walking home and got pepper sprayed. That year, it was seriously 10 idiots, think they were sophmores, that started a fire on the strip and ruined it for everyone. From the on, when the bars closed at 2am, you had to go straight home, and the police made sure of it.

[Kyyle23]

I was off campus in 2000 but I had two friends who weren't doing anything but walking home and got pepper sprayed. That year, it was seriously 10 idiots, think they were sophmores, that started a fire on the strip and ruined it for everyone. From the on, when the bars closed at 2am, you had to go straight home, and the police made sure of it.

 

I was at La romas on the strip, and had one foot in the beer garden and leaned out with my other foot to see the 3 idiots rocking that poor tree from side to side(in front of Jimmy Johns and Labambas), two cops came out of nowhere and arrested me for open container and public intoxication. i still think to this day that it was bogus, I had a foot in the beer garden. Oh well though, I paid my fine.

 

It was crazy how they busted so many people through video cameras. It used to be a safe bet that you would see someone flash you on the strip at night after the bars closed, now they arrest the girls for public nudity. I guess the cops in Carbondale are more concerned about public nudity than they are about the popularity of meth and coke within the population(and there is a big problem with both of those drugs in Carbondale).

[Brian]

I was at La romas on the strip, and had one foot in the beer garden and leaned out with my other foot to see the 3 idiots rocking that poor tree from side to side(in front of Jimmy Johns and Labambas), two cops came out of nowhere and arrested me for open container and public intoxication.  i still think to this day that it was bogus, I had a foot in the beer garden.  Oh well though, I paid my fine. 

 

I knew another guy that happened to. I believe you when you say it was bogus. From them on, you could barely stop at Winston's for a bagel without some cop yelling at you.

[Kyyle23]

I knew another guy that happened to. I believe you when you say it was bogus. From them on, you could barely stop at Winston's for a bagel without some cop yelling at you.

 

MMMMMMM, Winstons Bagels. Who knew that such a mish-mosh of ingredients on a bagel could be so good?!

[Texsox]

One year I was I was hanging with a high school buddy who was attending SIU and his room mate Ruffus. Now Ruffus was missin' some toothus, and was scary as hell. My buddy is drunk and being a royal jerk, grabing girls. We're trying to get him to chill. Guys would turn to swing, see Ruffus, and back away. Lucky me, one time the guy didn't see Ruffus, and took a swing at me. He missed (thank God) then saw my buddy laughing. Ruffus looked at me, we both walked away, and my buddy was last seen running like the wind.

 

The bands were usually pretty good, even the free ones. I remember turning into an alley way or dead end, and walking head first into the worlds loudest garage band. Two songs in and anyone that wasn't drunk was fleeing to save their hearing.

[Brian]

MMMMMMM, Winstons Bagels.  Who knew that such a mish-mosh of ingredients on a bagel could be so good?!

 

Especially when your stomach is full of Rolling Rock or Natural Light. Depending on whay you could afford in Carbondale.

[Texsox]

Especially when your stomach is full of Rolling Rock or Natural Light. Depending on whay you could afford in Carbondale.

 

it was Bussssshh way back when . . .

[Kyyle23]

Especially when your stomach is full of Rolling Rock or Natural Light. Depending on whay you could afford in Carbondale.

 

Natty Lite, the leading cause of pregnancy in Carbondale. I remember quarter drafts at pinch penny like it was yesterday, dixie cups full of beer(well, they seemed that small to me).

[Brian]

Natty Lite, the leading cause of pregnancy in Carbondale. I remember quarter drafts at pinch penny like it was yesterday, dixie cups full of beer(well, they seemed that small to me).

 

Yes!! You're gonna make me cry with these memories.

[Kyyle23]

Yes!! You're gonna make me cry with these memories.

 

I miss the place. it has its own mystique. I miss working at Quatros, the free food was worth the s***ty ass tips. I really am gonna miss watching SIU elevate their sports programs. It was the best 7 years i spent wandering aimlessly.

[Leonard Zelig]

I miss the place.  it has its own mystique. I miss working at Quatros, the free food was worth the s***ty ass tips.  I really am gonna miss watching SIU elevate their sports programs.  It was the best 7 years i spent wandering aimlessly.

 

I spent about 7 years in Carbondale, and loved every minute of it. Such a fun, laid back town and just minutes from a beautiful national forest. Damn, I'm missing it more now. I'm going back for the Main Street Pig Out in about 2 1/2 weeks.

[Kyyle23]

I spent about 7 years in Carbondale, and loved every minute of it.  Such a fun, laid back town and just minutes from a beautiful national forest.  Damn, I'm missing it more now.  I'm going back for the Main Street Pig Out in about 2 1/2 weeks.            

 

My buddy is trying to convince me to go to beerfest on the 17th at pinch penny. If it wasnt such a massive undertaking(wife and kid need to be taken care of) then i would do it in a heartbeat.

 

I keep thinking about Winstons famous bagels.

 

cream cheese(extra for me), green apple slice, butter, red onion, cucumber, cinnamon(no sugar added), bacon bits, and the optional garlic powder, all over a charcoal grill. You cant beat that for originality or taste. Sounds gross, but I will be damned if that isnt the best bagel I have had.

[Brian]

I miss the place.  it has its own mystique. I miss working at Quatros, the free food was worth the s***ty ass tips.  I really am gonna miss watching SIU elevate their sports programs.  It was the best 7 years i spent wandering aimlessly.

 

Quatro's was awesome. Except you couldn't put it in the fridge for the next day cuz the crust just got TOO hard. But I still managed.

Basketball was coming around when I was there. They made the NIT my senior year, than year after...Sweet 16.

Football was atrocious. Losing 52-50 it seemed every game. Awesome offense and no defense. Coach Kill has turned it around big time.

Gatsby's had a deal on Sunday's, pool for $1/hour. Every Sunday for a semester, me and two buddies went there from like noon til 5pm playing pool.

[Leonard Zelig]

My buddy is trying to convince me to go to beerfest on the 17th at pinch penny. If it wasnt such a massive undertaking(wife and kid need to be taken care of) then i would do it in a heartbeat.

 

I keep thinking about Winstons famous bagels.

 

cream cheese(extra for me), green apple slice, butter, red onion, cucumber, cinnamon(no sugar added), bacon bits, and the optional garlic powder, all over a charcoal grill.  You cant beat that for originality or taste.  Sounds gross, but I will be damned if that isnt the best bagel I have had.

 

No, no, no, you got it all wrong. You are supposed to get Winston's bagels with no sweet stuff: cream cheese, cucumber, bacon bits, onion, sunflower seeds, butter, and garlic powder. Now that is a bagel.

 

I went to the first Pinch Penny beerfest, I still have the glass. When we first got there we were complaining that 3 hours wasn't enough time to get our moneys worth. Three hours later there were no complaints.

Edited August 31, 2005 by Leonard Zelig