Cod in the Act: Cape Daily Fires 31-Year Veteran Who Made Up Sources

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Cape Cod Times Publisher Peter Meyer and Editor Paul Pronovost have published an apology to readers regarding 59-year-old Karen Jeffrey, a Times staff writer, who was fired after an internal audit revealed she allegedly had used fake names and invented sources in 34 stories dating back to 1998.

Jeffrey joined the Times in 1981. The daily is owned by the News Corp. subsidiary Dow Jones Local Media Group. According to the published apology, Jeffrey either used false names or concocted sources in "lighter" feature articles, such as a story on a Boston Red Sox home opener and a piece on young voters, rather than in crime and other "hard" news stories.

A recent piece by Jeffrey concerning Veterans Day raised red flags. The daily's audit purportedly revealed 69 "people" quoted in her stories whom the paper was unable to verify existed.