Knoxville News Sentinel

Last Sunday, the News Sentinel published the story of a Campbell County Santa Claus actor, Eric Schmitt-Matzen, who said a terminally ill child had died in his arms.

Immediately, the story went viral. Follow-up interviews and video recordings by local and national television outlets showed a very emotional Schmitt-Matzen retelling the story in virtually the same words he gave to the News Sentinel.

Schmitt-Matzen had not approached the News Sentinel originally with the story. The information came to the newspaper indirectly through a known source, and Schmitt-Matzen was then contacted and asked about the incident. At the time of that initial interview, he said he had promised to protect the identities of the child’s family and the nurse who summoned him to the hospital bedside. In follow-up interviews, he has continued to hold this position and stand by his account.

Since publication, the News Sentinel has done additional investigation in an attempt to independently verify Schmitt-Matzen’s account. This has proven unsuccessful. Although facts about his background have checked out, his story of bringing a gift to a dying child remains unverified. The News Sentinel cannot establish that Schmitt-Matzen’s account is inaccurate, but more importantly, ongoing reporting cannot establish that it is accurate.

Therefore, because the story does not meet the newspaper’s standards of verification, we are no longer standing by the veracity of Schmitt-Matzen’s account.

Jack McElroy, editor

Sam Venable, columnist and original author