Image by Rod FilbrandtAnyone who follows the publishing industry in the past

Image by Rod FilbrandtAnyone who follows the publishing industry in the past decade knows that — in addition to the ongoing economic difficulties — these have been challenging times for the integrity of journalism. There have been many high-profile instances of plagiarism, numerous cases of reporters simply making up characters and events, and a string of incidents in which editorial writers did not disclose they were actually on the payroll of the government.Seattle Weekly has been largely immune from these embarrassments — until now. As noted in an Editor’s Note appended to this week’s Ask an Uptight Seattleite column, we have been given reason to doubt whether the Uptight Seattleite himself (above right) has been responsible for all of the advice dispensed in his column. The Uptight has acknowledged to the Weekly that in at least some instances, he may have partially delegated the proffering of advice to a Licton Springs-based freelance writer and blogger named David Stoesz. The Weekly’s team of interns has undertaken an extensive research project to determine where precisely the Uptight’s work ends and that of his functionary begins. But the truth is that a full accounting may never be made.We apologize to our readers for this breach of integrity. And while we would like to say that it will never happen again, sadly we know that in the current age, that is likely promising too much.