Fake-brands story needed more discretion

BY EDWARD SCHUMACHER-MATOS

ombudsman@MiamiHerald.com

The Miami Herald now appears to be encouraging people to steal.

Then again, maybe many of us are guilty -- including me. A first-person article by Elaine Pasekoff, which ran this past week in the Tropical Life section, gleefully detailed how she traveled to New York's Chinatown and was taken by surreptitious guides into three secret showrooms where she bought counterfeit handbags. ''I quickly complete my mission,'' she writes, 'by selecting several bags that are close matches to the ones on my list -- and some other `brands' for myself, too. I feel a sense of accomplishment akin to completing a 5K [run]. With barely a haggle at Stop No. 3, my purchases are tucked inside yet another green-black garbage bag.''

' `More Coach?' my guide queries. 'No, thanks,' I shake my head gently. I came, I saw, I purchased. I was ready to leave Chinatown. The adventure cost me $215: $195 on six purses, which, if authentic, would have been $3,040 retail, plus $20 for a cab.'' The article was, if nothing else, certainly entertaining. But it is something else.

These counterfeit handbags are illegal and possibly immoral. To The Miami Herald's credit, some of the illegality was outlined in a sidebar in which Pasekoff, a freelance writer, quotes various officials. The counterfeit trade feeds Asian mafias, steals the names and business of legitimate manufacturers, avoids millions of dollars in taxes and is conducted without any controls over child labor or use of banned chemical products. But after pointing some (not all) of that out, the sidebar concludes:

''Even so, while law-enforcement targets manufacturers and sellers of counterfeits, casual buyers are unlikely to be busted.'' Pasekoff then goes on to list tips on how to get the best-quality fakes. Be sure to test the zippers. Many readers were incensed.

''Wow, this article is truly appalling!'' was a typical response among the dozens of online comments. ``Why in the world would a newspaper want an article written that CONDONES buying illegal merchandise and supporting ILLEGAL business practices. Such horrible journalism, you should be ashamed for publishing this.''

''Pathetic,'' wrote another, with the following angle that might touch a nerve among editors: ``Now you are writing stories on how to steal intellectual property? There is no difference between buying counterfeit purses and plagiarism, and I am pretty sure if I republish this article under my name, The Herald would go after me. Pasekoff is a thief.''

Features Editor Aminda Marques Gonzalez, who oversees Tropical Life, said that in retrospect she wishes that some things would have been done differently. ''Our intent was obviously not to promote an illegal act,'' she said. ''We were trying to acknowledge in some way what scores of people do when they visit New York City.'' She said that editors had indeed discussed beforehand how to handle the illegality of it all, and thus insisted on the prominent sidebar. But she wishes now that the story would have had a different tone, perhaps having the reporter discuss her own misgivings, and that the sidebar itself would not have included the buying tips.

I do not know if the writer actually had any misgivings. What the newspaper publishes -- and thus seems to recommend -- is what is important here. My feelings are that the whole package had to be different. It is legitimate to write about the knockoff market and how it works in Chinatown. A more illuminating article from a shopper's point of view, however, would have dealt squarely with the morality and legality. It is true that the knowing purchase of counterfeit sunglasses, watches, scarves, handbags and other fashion items is common. I've done it. I bought handbags as presents for a big Christmas reunion once -- in New York's Chinatown, just like Pasekoff did, in some of those same ''secret'' showrooms behind hidden doors in walls.

One of my daughters has taken Miami relatives there, confirming editor Marques Gonzalez' point that many shoppers from Miami (and around the world) come to Chinatown to do the same. The New York police harass the showrooms from time to time, forcing them to move around. They are hardly secret. It would seem that the police could shut the practice down. I don't know why they don't.

That the counterfeit goods are so common -- and perhaps tacitly allowed -- opens what might seem to be a gray area of morality, particularly at a time when intellectual-property laws are under attack. File-sharing of music is illegal, but a societal fact. Movies aren't far behind. Third World countries copy First World drugs at cheaper prices for their poor. Wal-Mart and every discount chain sell knockoff copies of designer clothes within weeks of the design being released.

Chinese car manufacturers copy American and European autos. At some point, newspapers have to get in step with the rest of society when practices change and the law is still behind. Even the recording companies, for example, accept that they have no choice but to find a new business model. There are no clear rules for editors to know where that point comes. But counterfeiting is different from copying, and I don't think that will ever make the cut.

For many of us, buying counterfeit goods is a venial sin, not a mortal one. As one reader wrote: ``People, lighten up. Did you all get up on the wrong side of the bed.''

But newspapers are a powerful and influential institution in our society and have to be better than the rest of us. In this case, The Miami Herald might have even pointed out how we are not only breaking the law, but also enriching reprehensible criminal gangs and not just the struggling vendors and workers.

Whatever Miami Herald editors might have decided after more careful consideration, I would have enjoyed an editor's note explaining why. We are not stupid and understand that choices can be difficult. As for me, I don't shop the counterfeit goods anymore. The actual quality is poor, and the feeling of having something fake is worse. I hadn't thought of the Chinese mafia angle until I read it in some of the reader's comments. I especially promise now that I won't go back.