{{unreferenced, date=November 2012
Spiking is the act of withholding a story from publication for editorial, commercial, or political reasons. Its facts and grammar may be valid, but its content is deemed to be at odds with the interests of the paper, or the paper's interpretation of what is good for its community. A spiking may be permanent, or temporary, depending on what instigated it, and whether the objection(s) can be overcome.
Some examples would be a story that while factually correct would likely incite a powerful local politician, upset a valuable advertiser in that paper, or bring unwanted attention to a community. The editorial staff, or if preempted, the newspaper ownership or management, must balance all its interests against purely theoretical " journalistic integrity". Conflicts involving spiking often arise from stories being pursued as part of
investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...
, or which threaten to bring on a
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...
lawsuit (that could prove expensive to fight even if groundless). Also late suspicions of
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...
or other ethical violations on the part of the author, however brought to an editor's attention.
Spiking is not limited to print media, as stories for radio or television broadcast also are subject to it for the same reasons.