Bylines   

Overzealous Reporting?

Two veteran journalists at Florida
Today , columnist/feature writer John McAleenan and police reporter Kathy Reakes , were working on a story about four people charged with first-degree murder when they learned that one of the suspects may have been running a teenage crime ring out of her apartment in Melbourne, Florida. After interviewing neighbors to substantiate their information, the two went to the suspect's apartment. According to McAleenan, the rear door of the apartment was open, and the place looked as though it had been vandalized and looted. Because the area had not been designated a police crime scene, he says, they decided to enter. Inside they found hundreds of pieces of paper with telephone numbers and beeper numbers, which led them to several teens willing to go on the record about their recruitment into the crime ring. The two thought they were onto quite a story, but unfortunately entering the apartment cost them their jobs. Editors at the Gannett paper confirm that the two were fired. They decline to elaborate because it is a personnel matter, but say they regard the episode as unfortunate.

Around Broadcasting

"60 Minutes" spices up its lineup, adding three distinctive voices. Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Molly Ivins will provide commentary, joined by best-selling author and Rolling Stone columnist P.J. O'Rourke and New York Daily News columnist and social critic Stanley Crouch ... Jeffrey Fager , the number two producer of the " CBS Evening News with Dan Rather " before number one Andrew Heyward was named president of the network (see Bylines, March), becomes the newscast's executive producer... ABC News grabs Jeff Gralnick , a 20-year veteran of the peacock network and former executive producer of the " NBC Nightly News," to head up the network's 24-hour news channel to be launched later this year.... Fox News President Joe Peyronnin bids farewell to the network he joined only a year ago, determined to make it a national news presence (see Bylines, May 1995). Apparently his determination didn't outweigh his resistance to the idea of sharing power with the new chairman and CEO of Fox News, Roger Ailes . Peyronnin has not yet announced his next move.

Around Newspapers

Former Chicago Sun-Times Editor Dennis Britton is named editor in chief of the Denver Post , a new position. The Post's announcement in January of its search for a new chief sparked much controversy among those loyal to Executive Editor Neil Westergaard (see Free Press, March). Westergaard continues at the paper and retains his title, though he will now report to Britton. The new boss acknowledges that the circumstances of his arrival will make his job "sensitive and tricky" but says he is nevertheless enthusiastic about taking the paper to another level... Rob Hooker , a 25-year St. Petersburg Times veteran, is named the paper's metro editor... At the Dallas Morning News , Deputy Managing Editor Stuart Wilk , who has been with the paper for 16 years, is promoted to managing editor.

Fort Worth Fallout (I)

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram pulls star columnist Molly Ivins from the pages of Dallas' alternative weekly, the Dallas Observer . According to the Star-Telegram the decision was based on a realization that the Observer is among the paper's direct competitors. But Observer Editor Peter Elkind calls the decision "a shameful act of revenge." The order to mute Ivins' voice in Dallas followed two Observer articles extremely critical of the Star-Telegram in general and of the paper's editor, Debbie Price, in particular. Star-Telegram Editorial Director Paul Harral says that the decision was nothing personal, saying in a statement that the paper "had made a bad business decision inconsistent with our policies of exclusivity." Elkind points out that the column always ran in the Observer several days after it did in the Star-Telegram, adding, "What this is about is retaliation. [The Star-Telegram] is reacting the way advertisers react when they don't like the coverage they get." The ever-outspoken Ivins' reaction to all the fuss? In an Observer article she describes her response in the straightforward language that Observer readers will now have to find elsewhere: "I told [the Star-Telegram], 'Well, it's no skin off my nose, but you guys are going to look like petty shits.' "

Fort Worth Fallout (II)

An organization called the American Family Association targets openly gay Texas journalists, starting at the Star-Telegram, where a woman inspired by a direct mailing from the organization alerted the paper to the fact that its graphics editor, Todd Camp , was drawing cartoons for the Texas Triangle , a gay and lesbian weekly. Camp had been an editor of the Star-Telegram's weekly children's section, but once Editor Debbie Price took a closer look at cartoons the AFA decried as offensive, she promptly transferred him to the features department to write about the arts. Price declines to comment on what she describes as an "internal personnel matter." Rich Oppel , editor of the Austin American-Statesman , was at no loss for words when the AFA turned its focus to his paper's openly gay religion writer, Juan Palomo , vigorously defending Palomo in his Sunday column, where he also condemned the AFA's actions in Fort Worth. Price called AJR back five times to insist that any comparison between her paper's response and the American-Statesman's was invalid. "We had no contact at all with the AFA. There was no pressure, period, paragraph," Price says. "We made an independent decision based on the facts before us... To connect the situation with some sort of concerted campaign is specious and false." Oddly enough, Oppel used the same words to describe the AFA's actions. "I think that innuendo, that wiggling around to suggest that Palomo somehow is unable to do his job professionally as a religion writer is specious and false," he says. "I think those things can have a perverse undermining and corrosive quality unless somebody just says 'Hell no!' and that's what I wanted to do."

A CNN Update

Arthur Kent , the man who gained international fame at NBC as the "Scud Stud" for his missile-dodging coverage of the Persian Gulf War, joins CNN 's London bureau as European anchor and correspondent. Kent had been working in London as an independent producer and journalist... After former New Republic Senior Editor Michael Kinsley decided to move his career leftward, make that westward, to launch an online magazine for Bill Gates ' Microsoft Network in Seattle, CNN spent several months trying out various bleeding hearts to take his spot in the high-volume debates on "Crossfire." They've narrowed the choices down to two people who will alternate weekly as the show's voices "from the left." Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro will alternate with Bill Press , who steps down from his post as California Democratic Party chairman, and the two will butt heads with alternating cohosts "from the right," former Bush Chief of Staff John Sununu and syndicated columnist Robert Novak ... And finally, as if two 24-hour channels (including the new financial channel CNNFN ) weren't enough for Ted Turner , the media magnate announces plans to team with Sports Illustrated to create CNN/SI , a round- the-clock sports news and information network. CNN sports vice president and executive producer Jim Walton will oversee development of the new network, and Time reporter and editor Steve Robinson will oversee Sports Illustrated's contributions.

On the Infobahn

PointCast Inc., an Internet news and information service, announces the debut of the PointCast Network (PCN), a free service that delivers personalized news directly to a viewer's computer screen – in the format of a screen saver. The software can be customized to include the user's choices of current headlines, stock quotes, weather and sports scores, and includes content from Reuters , the Boston Globe , the Los Angeles Times , ESPN and Netscape . PCN can be downloaded at http://www.pointcast.com... A Boston Herald story about a computer hacker threatening Berkshire.Net , a local Internet provider, leads to the threat of crippled computer networks throughout Boston. Known as "u4ea," the hacker has been harassing Berkshire.Net for months, ever since the provider tried to stop him from using its service to promote racist messages. The hacker went so far as to delete the memory of two of the provider's three computers, but Berkshire.Net President Mike Bathrick downplays media reports of his ability to endanger the world. Herald reporter Mark Muellen , who has written more than 10 stories about "u4ea," says his paper has a responsibility to report on his hijinks, even if it means egging him on. He says his efforts to report on the hacker have been a learning experience. "You don't have to be a genius to wreak havoc," he says. "If you exploit known bugs you can crack any system with persistence and patience."

The Ghost in the Machine

Another chapter in the saga of New Republic Associate Editor Ruth Shalit . Apparently Shalit was caught once again in what she has described as her "sloppy work habit" of borrowing another writer's words. Now she is caught lifting the prose of the Washington Post 's David Broder for her piece about former Republican presidential candidate Lamar Alexander , though this time around Shalit was lucky enough to have an editor catch the offending copy before it went to press. In the wake of this latest incident – one of too many to count over the past year – the wunderkind takes an indefinite leave of absence. Repeated calls to her editors went unreturned.... San Francisco Chronicle Political Editor Susan Yoachum says the insertion of a passage from a Reuters story into her piece about Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan was the result of accidental "electronic merging." Yoachum, who says she has been extremely hard on herself about the incident, says she takes full responsibility for her mistake and won't let it happen again. "Attribution is so basic," she says. "This is an indefensible mistake to make twice."