Newsroom Employees As Election Workers p. 11

By: Dorothy Giobbe

Florida newspaper publisher's policy of transporting primary
election ballots raises eyebrows in the editorial department sp.

A FLORIDA NEWSPAPER publisher's policy of using newsroom employees to transport primary election ballots recently raised eyebrows in the newspaper's editorial department.
According to one newsroom employee, editorial staffers of the 98,711-circulation daily Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal were "aghast" after publisher Tippen Davidson introduced the policy, which involved staff from all departments.
Under an agreement reached with the county, about 145 News-Journal employees, accompanied by a poll worker, were to transport the ballots by car from the county's primary election sites, to an area elections office after the polls had closed.
All participating employees either received pay or were given compensatory time off. In token payment for its services, the News-Journal received $1.
Even though none of the reporters covering the primaries participated in the effort, some editorial employees said the newspaper's involvement could undermine its credibility if the results of the primary were ever called into question.
"People were pretty outraged about it [the policy]," said one newsroom employee, who requested anonymity. "Our paper is pretty strongly Democrat; we rarely endorse Republicans . . . . What if something were to happen between here and the election office?
"I don't know of anyone, except for one or two people, who thought this was a good idea. In fact, everybody thought it was a pretty stupid idea," the staff member added.
Another editorial staff employee said that the decision caused "grave concern" among many in the newsroom, and that while management said participation was voluntary, employees were "pressured" to become involved.
"I can see if all of this was coordinated through circulation . . . ." said the employee. "But when editorial gets involved, that's when I have a problem. Many people feel there is a major conflict of interest."
Davidson acknowledged that some of his employees were upset, but he defended his actions, saying that he made the decision in the best interests of the News-Journal.
In past primaries, a number of poll workers either got lost or stopped for dinner en route to the election center, Davidson said.
As a result, tabulation of the ballots often was not completed until the next morning, after the News-Journal's deadline.
"All the static emanated from the editorial writers. They have too much time to think about these things," Davidson said. "In deference to some of those in the ivory tower, anybody who wanted to be excused, was excused."
Davidson added that "what motivated me was a much more real newsroom concern. I don't want to be scooped by TV ? the hell with that."
All participating employees received one hour of training and were instructed not to touch the ballot boxes at any time, he added.
"We arranged it so that nothing could happen . . . . I suppose that we could have gone over a bridge and taken the ballots to a watery grave, but my people know these roads much better than the old folks," Davidson said.
"I can't see what the ethical conflict could be, we were just running our trucks," Davidson said. "We did this at our expense, and the presence of an election person guaranteed against tampering with ballots . . ."
Deanie Low, elections supervisor, said that she received just two phone calls from people who were concerned about the News-Journal's participation in the election process.
"It was a beautiful setup," she said. "They were nice to do it. The drivers were never alone with the ballots, and there is no way on God's green earth you could get into that box."
The agreement was approved by the county's legal department and the state division of elections, she added.
Davidson said that the News-Journal would drive the ballots again if asked, but next time the county "will have to pay for it."