Jim West Final

Kalie Jones JRN 421 Final Case Study Spokane Mayor Case Raises Many Ethical Issues

Members of the media face tough ethical questions every day. Often times the answers to ethical questions are not clear cut and there is no book of strict ethical guidelines that universally apply. One question that has long been discussed is whether a person’s sexuality is fair game in media coverage. The Spokesman-Review was forced to address this issue and many others when it broke news of a sex scandal involving Jim West in 2005. West, the mayor of Spokane, Wash. had long been involved in Washington State politics. He was a well-known public figure not only in Spokane but also throughout Washington and so when news of a gay sex scandal involving him broke, it took the media and community by storm. West had been involved in Washington politics since 1983. He served as the Republican Party leader in the state Senate before becoming mayor of Spokane in 2004. He was especially well-known for his strong stance on issues such as gay rights, abortion and teen-age sex. During his tenure in the state Senate, West supported one bill that would have prohibited gay men and women from working in schools, day care centers, and some state government agencies. He also supported a bill that would have made sexual contact among those 18 or younger a crime. Although there was some early speculation that West was homosexual, no public accusations were ever made and West continued to support legislation that stripped homosexuals of their rights. It wasn’t until 2005 that West’s sexuality and its role in his public life appeared in the media.

The Spokesman-Review, Spokane’s local daily, played a big role in outing West but took a long time to do it. “At every step of the way there were significant ethical questions to be resolved,” the paper’s then-editor, Steve Smith said in an interview. “From the very beginning [we asked] do we report that the mayor is a closeted gay man, absent any other issues, just the fact that he is a homophobic legislatorbut lives a closeted gay life? Is that in and of itself newsworthy?” Smith didn’t believe it was and decided at first not to publish articles concerning West’s sexual preferences. Although there was a lot of speculation among people in Spokane, especially those in the gay community, it was widely accepted that West’s sexual orientation was part of his private life and should remain as such so long as it didn’t interfere with his public life. According to Smith the introduction of other facts eventually made West’s homosexuality newsworthy. The Spokesman-Review took a lot of precaution in its investigation of West. The newspaper recognized that any false information in its coverage could be detrimental not only to West’s reputation, but also to The Spokesman-Review’s reputation. Smith required that anybody who came forward with allegations against West would have to be willing to go on the record with a name and photo and their stories would have to be backed by corroborated evidence. To protect the integrity of its coverage The Spokesman-Review took additional steps by moving its two investigative reporters on the story across the street to a private office where they worked on closed computer systems, separate from the newspaper’s system. Only five people at the Spokesman- Review knew of the allegations against West and the ongoing investigation. “This is the ethical nut of all of this,” said Smith. “If all of this turned out to be wrong, we could have potentially ruined a man for no good reason.” The case of Jim West and The Spokesman-Review is an interesting one because editors and reporters were faced with tough ethical questions during every step of the coverage. Smith,

who oversaw the entire project, said that because of the nature of the story, he knew the staff had to take extreme caution while investigating and reporting. “I wanted confirmation, I wanted absolute and total proof on all of these charges and I wanted to keep the project totally under wraps until we either had the proof or we decided there was no story,” Smith said. The newspaper first began investigating West in 2003 after reporter Bill Morlin came across allegations of sex abuse from the 1970s with links to West. These allegations asserted that West had molested young boys in the mid-‘70s while he was a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy and Boy Scout leader. West, furthermore, had ties to fellow deputy sheriff David Hahn and scout leader George E. Robey, both of whom killed themselves when accusations of child molestation first arose. Eventually tips from sources spurred the investigation of West. In 2005, Morlin was deep in the investigation when he came across a source who told him of an 18-year-old man who claimed West offered him an internship after meeting him in an online chat room. The Spokesman-Review began using the Internet in an attempt to find solid evidence against West. Morlin began monitoring www.gay.com, the chat room where West was rumored to be active. After months of Internet investigation, Morlin found a man with various screen names who was pursuing young men. Although Morlin suspected that this person was West, he was unable to confirm his suspicions and The Spokesman-Review hired a computer specialist to help. According to Smith, the newspaper staff working wanted to find out not only if the allegations from the ‘70s were true, but also if West was picking up young men on the Internet since this would show a pattern of behavior in West, that is, that the mayor had privately participated in such activities with young men for years while publicly living a completely different life. The computer specialist working for the newspaper spent time in www.gay.com, under the name Moto-Brock, seeking out the screen names believed to belong to West by the original

18-year-old source. Posing as a 17-year-old male from Ferris High School, the specialist caught West’s attention and began to build an online relationship with him. According to reports, over a period of several months West offered Moto-Brock autographed sports items, tickets for Mariner’s and Seahawk’s games, help getting into college, and an internship in the Spokane mayor’s office. Eventually Moto-Brock told Westthat he had turned 18, at which time West suggested that the two meet for golf. After setting up a meeting, West sent a picture of himself to Moto-Brock so he would know who to meet at the golf course. After months of investigation Smith had the confirmation he was looking for to proceed with publication of the story. There are many ethical issues entwined within this case. Not only are there questions regarding what information the newspaper could and should publish but there were also ethical questions regarding the manner by which information was gathered. Before The SpokesmanReview even decided to publish the story, editors had a lot of questions to answer. First and foremost, was it the newspaper’s duty to out the mayor of Spokane? Absent any other factors, Smith continued to believe the mayor had a right to keep his private life private. As West’s questionable actions surfaced, however, the issue became less about West’s sexuality and more about his behavior as mayor, yet Smith believed that if the story were to be reported ethically it would have to be backed by strong supportive evidence. As reporters dove deeper into the investigation and more and more information regarding West’s online activities became apparent, they were faced to answer a lot of questions. In the beginning, West was thought to be doing nothing more than talking to young men in online chat rooms in his private time. Based on this presumption alone, reporters were forced to decide if the activity was the public’s right to know. What if West was using city computers to chat during work hours? What if he was attempting to meet people who weren’t 18? What if he was abusing his public office in any other way? When West was found to, in fact, be abusing his public office

by offering city internships and gifts, The Spokesman-Review reporters and editors decided to go forward with the story. When faced with tough ethical questions throughout the investigation, Smith and other Spokesman-Review editors repeatedly asked themselves one question before deciding whether to publish information: “does this story serve the public… will some public good come from this?” According to Smith, if they agreed that it would, they published the information. On May 5 2005, The Spokesman-Review unleashed a series of stories about West’s private life, past allegations of sex abuse, and current Internet activity. Headlines in the newspaper included “West tied to sex abuse in ‘70s, using office to lure young men,” “West’s public policy conflicts with private life” and “West offered perks, internship to expert posing as 18-year-old during Web chats.” The paper also included an article explaining the stories and timeline of events leading up to their publication. “Through the use of public records, court documents, first-person accounts, and a forensic computer expert, the newspaper has uncovered stories that West has led a secret life for more than 25 years. Beyond the serious allegations of sexual abuse, West had been using his position in the Legislature to block gay-rights legislation. And he has been trolling the Internet for young lovers while serving as mayor of Spokane, offering gifts and favors.” The statement went on to lay out the reasoning used by The Spokesman-Review in publishing the stories and addressed the underlying issues of each. Within the statement, The Spokesman-Review addressed most of the ethical questions associated with the story and explained their decisions. The first question to address when looking at the ethics to this story is whether the series was merely about West’s sexual orientation or sex life. Had the series only been used to out West the coverage would have been

arguably unethical. As the editors of The Spokesman-Review point out, however, it was a story about “alleged sexual abuse of children and misuse of power and authority. Using the trappings of public office to lure and groom young sex partners, barely of legal age, is the public’s business whether those potential partners are male or female.” While the wording of this statement certainly carries with it a specific opinion, its underlying point is valid. The Spokesman-Review was only reporting on West’s sexual preferences because it was tied to other issues of public concern. The real issues, those of alleged sex abuse and abuse of power, mattered regardless of whether the mayor was gay or straight. Despite claims that all sources of the allegations were publicly identified by name and photo, various unidentified sources were used in stories. A frequent question regarding journalistic ethics is whether the use of anonymous sources should be permitted. Although Smith agreed that in most situations a source should be identified in order to be used in a story, exceptions were made for some sources included in the West series. The Spokesman-Review defended its decision in the statement saying that “as much as possible” fully identified sources were used and that anonymity was only granted to the two young men who met West in www.gay.com because they didn’t want friends and family to know they were gay. While some arguments can be made against this decision the majority of sources and accusers were fully named, adding credibility to the series. It should also be noted that no allegations or facts printed by The Spokesman-Review were found to be false after publication. Also at issue was whether it was ethical for The Spokesman-Review to hire an outside computer forensics specialist to pose as a 17- or 18-year-old male in an attempt to catch the mayor “in the act,” so to speak. Could such action be viewed as The Spokesman-Review “tricking” West into a behavior that he might otherwise avoid or was this action proof that any young male on www.gay.com was vulnerable to West’s overtures? Was this unethical

investigative reporting? Editors asked themselves these questions and had many reservations in hiring the specialist. Ultimately editors and reporters determined that the information and verification obtained by the specialist was integral to the series and its validation. According to the paper, the specialist “was hired to confirm that West was the man behind several online identities and to confirm the accounts of real men. Under ordinary circumstances the newspaper would not use a fictional scenario in pursuit of a news story. But the seriousness of the allegations and the need for specific computer forensic skills overrode our general reluctance.” It is difficult to say whether this was the right course of action for the paper to take. Ultimately it achieved the results editors were looking for, however, they did receive criticism for it. Because a majority of the investigation was done by the reporters themselves and the specialist was used for mostly confirmation, the decision seems to be ethical. When the series was first published on May 5, 2005, many people in Spokane were outraged-- not so much at the news, as by the fact that The Spokesman-Review had been harboring the knowledge for years. Many wanted to know why the newspaper hadn’t revealed the information prior to West’s election in 2003 or earlier. Speculation and rumors surrounded West for years. According to Smith, the Spokesman-Review didn’t report on the topic earlier because “newspapers are not in the business of reporting rumors.” Smith went on to say that publication had been delayed until the editors and reporters were “fully confident that they were fair and accurate.” All of these ethical issues were addressed prior to publication of the series, however, questions continued to arise when The Spokesman-Review revealed the information to the public. Days after the series was published, West called Smith at home and much of the conversation (in which West confessed to the Internet allegations) was published in follow-up stories of the scandal. Was it ethical for Smith to publish what was arguably a private

conversation? “Of all the ethical questions that popped up in the course of this investigation, this one wasn’t even on my radar… You don’t talk to the newspaper editor off the record and all of the forces in this town knew that.” Is that fair or should journalists make their intentions clearly known? Despite arguments that can be made against him it seems Smith was right and chances are West knew what he was doing when he called. The coverage of West took years to produce and it resulted in stories that went on for months. Although many hoped that West would resign on his own after the stories surfaced, he didn’t. It wasn’t until February of 2006 that a recall vote ousted West from office. Prior to the recall election, various federal investigations were enacted by the FBI and Supreme Court. Upon West’s removal from office, all investigations were closed and no convictions were issued. The Spokesman-Review also closed its investigation, however, Smith says that had West attempted to run for public office again the newspaper was ready to investigate allegations against West that they hadn’t yet addressed. Smith says that the newspaper reported what it believed to be in the interest of the public and that upon West’s removal from office the information was no longer relevant. Was this the ethical choice? Should The Spokesman-Review have followed through on investigating the other allegations? What if West’s actions continued to harm society? Or did the paper make the right decision by dropping the case when charges were dropped? It’s difficult to say. Many questions revolving around the ethics of this case may never be answered. In July of 2006, West passed away from cancer and so the case no longer receives the attention it used to. Despite the many ethical questions surrounding this case, Smith says he would only do one thing differently. “I would have been prepared for the national attention the story received,” he says. As far as the investigation and the publication of the stories, Smith firmly stands behind the paper’s work. General consensus regarding ethics is that there are few right answers. Many

ethical questions must be answered on a case by case basis. Smith no longer works for The Spokesman-Review after quitting when he was asked to make staff cuts for the fourth time. Today Smith is taking it easy, updating his blog and figuring out where he’d like to go next. Smith, however, can leave The Spokesman-Review knowing that his work was sound. The case of Jim West and The Spokesman-Review offers great insight to the questions faced by journalists every day and what steps should be taken in solving them.

Sources: 1. Smith, Steve; 2008 2. May 5, 2005: Spokesman-Review:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?ID=050505_westmain 3. May 5, 2005: Spokesman-Review:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?id=050505_editors_note

4. May 5, 2005: Spokesman-Review:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?ID=050505_west_politics 5. May 5, 2005: Spokesman-Review:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?ID=050505_online_relationships 6. May 21, 2005: Spokesman-Review:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?ID=052105_west_prosecutor 7. June 22, 2005: Spokesman-Review:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?ID=062205_email 8. November 18, 2005: Spokesman-Review:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?ID=111805_files