Feeling like a dirtbag

If this is the kind of crap they're gonna pull, unless you absolutely, positively need to work for this guy, stop. He's lower that tabloid TV. I got the calls all the time (usually late at night) when I was on news side, "do a story on my neighbor, he's been busted 18 times and yadda, yadda yadda..." Of course, ask the concerned neighbor for their name and number so you can get back to them, they suddenly get laryingitis! Always wondered why people think their story is the one that should be the exception to all the rules of journalism?

 

Well, no on the dispatcher, though I did tell her I was writing a story on the cop. The chief knew what the story was, and I did get his comments backing up his officer. He's the one who told me about the cop merely signing the search warrant, and told me of his commendations.

Bottom line, yeah, I think I've gotta sever ties with this pub.

 

It's not all your editor's fault. You should have, early and often, gotten word to the subject of the story to tell him exactly what it was about, and to give him a chance to respond. You should still be doing this. If his house were burning, someone would know how to reach him. Go now to the cop shop and talk to the chief. Make sure he knows that the story IS running, and make sure he knows exactly what's in it. Refuse to leave until someone gets the guy on he phone and tells him about the story and gives him your number. Go next to his house and talk to the neighbors; tell them it's urgent and you must get a message to him. Find out where he goes to church or temple or whatnot, and talk to the clergyperson.

By the way, if you're planning to be sued for your work, which seems likely, if not on this story then on another one, posting a note in public calling yourself a "slimeball, dirtbag, sneaky sonuvabitch journalist" is a really good way to ensure that you lose that lawsuit and any lawsuit in the future.

You sound like a good guy, but you've got to follow some basic rules of the road. Changing publications seems like a good idea, but it's not the only idea.

 

That sucks, Killick. Your editor is way out of line on this one. I've had an editor I thought I knew disappioint me like that before. An enterprise story I had done for sports was going to run on the front, so it had to go through a news editor first. The guy was somebody I had considered a friend. Good guy to hit the bar with. We had also been in fantasy sports leagues together for a few years.

He didn't just gut the story. He rewrote it. He changed it to give his slant on the issue, which ran completely counter to what every single source I spoke to had said. I also asked that he remove my byline. Bastard not only ran the thing, but he actually left my name on it. I ended up apologizing to some of the sources for how it turned out. I yelled at the editor in the middle of the office (still surprised I didn't get disciplined for that one). I'm not proud of losing my temper like that, but I know I was right. I even got a half-assed apology from the managing editor. I understand why he didn't step in (LONG story), but it was still frustrating.

Oh well. At least I used to routinely kick his ass in those fantasy sports leagues.

 

Killick,

Your editor is wrong to run this without a "comment/no comment" quote, or, at least, a legitimate, honest line along the lines of the officer (really) could not be reached, or was reached and declined to comment...

If it were me, I would go to every last editor in that place, and the publisher, and state the case against running this without the cop involved, or without knowing, with certainty, that he knows it is running without his input.

That said, given your current situation, if I were you, I think I'd also enlist the aid of the police department's PIO/PR flack in this instance. Tell him the situation, what the story's about, and that the story IS running, soon, and that a comment really can't wait.

I'd think an PIO might be aware enough of media-related issues to see the urgency and the expediency on the part of the department to get ahold of this guy. And, as others have said, you know that the department can...Police, fire and emergency personnel essentially live their lives on call, after all, so there must be a way to reach the cop involved. Perhaps the PIO could even be an intermediary if the cop perfers that.

But, at least then, you'd have something you can say, from somebody, that you can say supposedly got whatever is said directly from the cop...

My other thought: Just as I would not run this story without the cop involved, at least on some level, I ALSO would NEVER run a story like this without a byline...not for any reason, and you're wrong to ask that the paper do so, even if it is to keep you from looking, publicly, at least, like the dirtbag journalist you reference...

 

Go to the publisher, in person if necessary, and do whatever is necessary to stop the story from being published. Getting comment or no comment from the subject is mandatory in a story like this.

Also insist that your byline be removed. It's your byline.

 

Call the PIO and explain the situation.

 

Is it really that hard to get hold of the cop? He's gotta have relatives. He's gotta have a Facebook. He's gotta have some method of being reached (unless he's taking the kind of vacation all of us in the digital age long for). There are too many ways to contact people, to accept that he will be unavailable for a month, especially given the smear job that will be running on him.

I also don't even know how you can write your story before talking to him. It's not the kind of story where you just punch in quotes from the guy. An interview with him would likely change the entire fabric of the story. So yeah, do a follow up. But pubs always look stupid when they have to basically write a full-story clarification on the original piece. Your editor is an idiot if he runs it as is.

 

Have to say, Killick, that inthesuburbs is dead on the money here. You've got to do a lot better than trying to pass a phone message to the cop through a dispatcher.

 

It's a small-town department, only 12 officers in total, so there's no PIO. The chief handles all media inquiries. As for the relatives/facebook route, did it. Problem is, it's probably the most common name out there.

I did talk to the chief this afternoon and he said he did pass along the message. "If he didn't call you, he didn't want to," says chief, so I guess I've got that going for me.

 

Then you're covered. Don't worry about it. If you can include a note in the story to the effect that "all attempts to reach Mr. Cop were unsuccessful and he did not return messages sent through intermediaries" then even better. you're not a dirtbag after all.

 

Given that the chief handles media issues, knows the situation, and says he did reach the cop, I'm with Point of Order in thinking you're covered, if you do/write as he suggests.

I'd also find a way to include that quote, in quotes, that the chief gave you regarding how "if the cop didn't contact you, then he didn't want to" in the story.

And, I'd put your byline on it. As I said before, a story like that would never run without a byline in any publication I edited.