CONCEALING SOURCES

By: Ellen Liburt Official Irate That Newspaper Didn't Reveal Citizen's Identity

An elected official in Tippecanoe County, Ind., who told a constituent that if she didn't like 'living in a Christian nation' she should move to Israel, says a newspaper concealed the citizen's identity because she is married to one of its editors.

County Commissioner Kathleen Hudson said the Journal and Courier in Lafayette violated its own ethics policy by omitting the name of the citizen who wrote to the commissioner while calling for Hudson's resignation. Hudson apologized but refused to resign.

The ruckus began when a Jewish citizen sent an e-mail to all three county commissioners saying she was offended by a nativity scene on the public courthouse lawn. Hudson e-
mailed her back, saying, 'I am personally getting tired of defending my faith in Christ. If you don't like living in a Christian nation, then by all means move to Israel.'

The citizen showed Hudson's response to her temple group, whose members were outraged. One took the response to the paper, which held the story until Managing Editor Carol Kriebel Bangert had verified the writer's identity.
'We didn't feel [the citizen] was the story; we felt it was the hateful message,' said Bangert, noting that the citizen had been promised anonymity by group members and drawn against her will into the story.
The paper never used the citizen's name. In a Nov. 26 editorial, Bangert wrote, 'Getting to the truth - through additional investigation and good reporting - was paramount, and Temple Israel's agreement with this woman was binding if we were to get the complete story.'
The managing editor told E&P Interactive, 'We followed our [owner Gannett Co. Inc.'s] policy, which says we won't use unnamed sources. First off, [the citizen] wasn't our source; it was members of the Jewish community. The corollary to that is if we do need to use unnamed sources, it's the editor's responsibility to confirm the identity of the source and to review the information provided.'

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Ellen Liburt (ellenl@mediainfo.com) is a reporter for Editor & Publisher magazine.




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