Morlin, Spokane Reporter, Says 'Frontline' Omitted Key Facts

By: Joe Strupp Bill Morlin of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., whose part in a controversial probe of former Mayor James West was scrutinized in a Frontline documentary on PBS Tuesday night, said the TV piece was not overtly unfair, but missed important facts, included some errors and "wanted to follow a certain story line."

The reporter said he had gotten a handful of e-mails and phone calls prompted by the PBS show, but no major avalanche of reaction: "One person sent me an e-mail saying he was planning to go into journalism, but I had diluted his ambition."

Morlin, a veteran reporter at the paper that received criticism in 2005 for hiring a consultant to pose online as a gay teen in order to expose the ex-mayor's "trolling" on the Internet, said he normally avoids national television appearances and only cooperated with the PBS program because the paper wanted to be as open as possible on the West story.

"The bosses wanted this openness," he said of his participation. "I have had numerous opportunities to go on national news shows in the past, I declined. I am a print reporter and there are time constraints. I don't want to be Geraldo Rivera...I don't consider myself to be a TV type of person," said Morlin. "I view these folks as fellow journalists and if I can help I will. But it becomes a huge distraction for me."

Morlin's comments followed Tuesday night's airing of the Frontline documentary "A Hidden Life," which followed the fall of West, a former Spokane mayor who was recalled in late 2005 after the Spokesman-Review revealed he had been spending time on a gay chat site seeking young men.

A key element of reporting involved the paper's hiring of an outside consultant to pose online as a gay teen seeking sex. The consultant eventually found West on the site and engaged in e-mail conversations with him that included an offer by West of an internship and plans to meet.

After the paper confronted West, it reported his secret online actions, as well as possible ties to the molestation of young boys years earlier. Frontline reviewed the reporting and actions of the paper, and West, critiquing in some cases the paper's use of the consultant and lack of proof that West had molested any minors.

Morlin, like his editor, Steve Smith in a blog posting today, claimed the documentary got some facts wrong. He also pointed out that the TV show, which made a point of saying the FBI had failed to charge West with any criminal wrongdoing, did not mention that the state Supreme Court had ruled his actions were improper and a city investigation found he had violated state law and city policies.

"It could have been more complete, it could have been more comprehensive," said Morlin. "There are some other aspects of the story I wished they had mentioned. They wanted to follow a storyline."

Morlin defended the paper's actions and his own methods, saying the hiring of a consultant was not deceptive. "We've hired consultants on other occasions, for their expertise," he said. The fellow they hired in the West probe, he explained, "had an expertise on chat rooms." Morlin said if the paper had not pursued the online angle, it could have been accused of ignoring an important story. "Where would we be five years from now?" he said. "Frontline would show up in five years and say, 'hey, you knew about this and sat on it'."

Still, Morlin said the experience has not soured him on future television appearances although he still says he generally avoids them. Even a Frontline documentary? "It would depend on what the story was," he said. "It would depend on who it was."

Morlin also stressed that he did not want to get into a battle with Frontline over the program. "I am not going to get into name-calling," he said. "They did what the they had to do and now they are on to the next story -- and so am I."


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Related E&P Stories:

-- 'Frontline' Program Is Critical of Spokane Paper's Probe Of Mayor

-- Producer Defends 'Frontline' Program on Spokane Case in Online Chat

-- Editor of Spokane Paper Hits Back at 'Frontline' Probe