cannabisnews.com: A Note To Tennessean Readers About Gore Coverage










  A Note To Tennessean Readers About Gore Coverage

Posted by FoM on January 25, 2000 at 10:51:58 PT
By David Green, Managing Editor  
Source: The Tennessean 

The story that began on the front page today about Al Gore's use of marijuana years ago is strewn with complications for The Tennessean and its staff. Because those complications might raise questions in some readers' minds about the fairness of the newspaper's reporting, we are going to go to unusual lengths in this article to explain the complications and how we dealt with them.The front page story details allegations by a former Tennessean reporter that Vice President Al Gore Jr. was a much heavier marijuana user than he has publicly admitted and that Gore tried to cover this up while running for the presidency in the 1980s.
When those allegations first surfaced on the Internet last Thursday, I began discussing the complications with the newspaper's projects editor, Robert Sherborne. Here they are:• Some of the alleged marijuana smoking went on while Gore was a writer for The Tennessean in the 1970s.• A number of Gore's friends from that time remain on the staff today, including Frank Sutherland, who is the chief editor of this newspaper and my boss. Frank and his wife, Natilee, remain close personal friends with Gore and his wife, Tipper.• Another of Tipper Gore's close friends both then and now, photo desk editor Nancy Rhoda, also remains on our staff. Rhoda is the ex-wife of John Warnecke, who is making the allegations against Gore.• There is a perception by some of our readers that because of Gore's ties to the newspaper, we cannot be relied upon to deliver impartial coverage of the vice president.• There is concern by some readers and journalists alike that allegations made against politicians on the Web or in the supermarket tabloids are finding their way into the mainstream media without the usual scrutiny. In other words, there is a worry that fear of competition is driving the mainstream media to publish things it ordinarily wouldn't.It was clear we would be walking a fine line on this story.On the one hand, the allegations deserved our serious attention. If true, they would cast doubt on the vice president's credibility and could become an issue in his campaign for president. And if we failed to report fully on them, we would be accused of covering up for Gore.On the other hand, we wanted to be as fair to Gore as we would be to anyone else in his position. It is certainly true that Al Gore should not receive unduly sympathetic coverage in this newspaper just because he used to work here. But it is also true that he should not be penalized for that association by having us go extra hard on him just to prove we are impartial.So we took the obvious step and assigned three reporters, Jay Hamburg, Laura Frank and Sheila Wissner, to investigate Warnecke's allegations. They were selected not only because they are among our best, but also because they were not here when Al Gore was with The Tennessean. I assigned Sherborne to supervise the story for the same reasons.I called Frank Sutherland, the editor of the paper, to inform him that the story had appeared on the Web. Before I got into the details of the Web article, we agreed that it was best for him to step away from any involvement with our pursuit of the story and leave the decisions to me. As managing editor, I am in charge of the day-to-day operations of the news departments other than the editorial pages. I also came here after Gore left.Here is where we found ourselves after four days of reporting, including interviews with Warnecke and more than three dozen current and past staff members, among them Frank Sutherland: We had no confirmation of what Warnecke said. We had no definitive disproof either.We asked ourselves what we would do if this story were about another candidate with no connections to the newspaper. The answer was that the information was not strong enough to publish.We then asked ourselves what we would do if the story started to appear in other mainstream news outlets. The answer was that we would use the information, but be sure to include a great deal of context and explanation, such as the article you are now reading. The reason for publishing under those circumstances was this: If other mainstream media outlets ran the story and we didn't, our readers could draw the conclusion that we were covering for Gore.Yesterday, a story about the issue appeared on the Associated Press news service, which feeds virtually every daily newspaper and TV station in the country. A reporter had asked Gore about the allegations during a campaign appearance in Iowa, and the vice president denied them.We then finalized the articles you are reading today. Sutherland did not read them before publication.And one final note: Covering Al Gore no doubt will present us with other complicated issues as the campaign progresses. We will do our best to be as fair and aboveboard as we possibly can. Published: January 25, 2000© Copyright 2000 The TennesseanRelated Articles:One Other Journalist Recalls Gore's Drug Usehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4471.shtmlReports of Gore Pot Use Raise Complex Questionshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4470.shtmlGore: Past Marijuana Use Infrequent and Rarehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4462.shtmlGore Denies Marijuana Chargehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4458.shtmlSmoke In His Eyeshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4429.shtmlGore Pot Tale Gives Mag Cold Feethttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4436.shtmlDid Gore Go One Toke Over the Line at Law School?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4422.shtmlEditorial: Dishonest Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4418.shtmlNew Bio Alleges Gore Used Marijuana For Yearshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4399.shtml 

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