'Ventura County Star' M.E. Luna: 'I'm Very, Very Sorry'

By: Mark Fitzgerald In his first interview since the disclosure he had been disciplined for misusing press credentials, an apologetic Ventura County (Calif.) Managing Editor Richard Luna said Wednesday afternoon that he was "very, very sorry" about the incidents.

"I did accept a credential for an event that I wasn't covering, and that was wrong," Luna said in the telephone interview. "I'm very, very sorry for what has happened."

Luna said he had apologized to the paper's publisher and top editor, and to members of his newsroom management team.

"I am trying to meet with as many of the newsroom staff as I can so I can apologize face-to-face," he added.

Luna said he had "accepted" the discipline imposed by the paper, but he did not say what the punishment was. Management at the paper has similarly declined to detail the discipline, saying it was a personnel matter.

In a story published Wednesday morning, the Star said Luna violated the ethics policy of corporate parent E.W. Scripps Co. by seeking press credentials to attend college basketball games he was not covering. The paper said he attended one of those games, the NCAA championship game in Indianapolis in April, and was unable to obtain press entry to another game.

"He also directed midlevel editors to pressure a sports reporter into seeking media credentials for him to other events," the paper said. Star reporters have told E&P that the sports reporter complained when Luna's request for press credentials threatened the reporter's access to games.

A Star newsroom staffer, angered that management was saying little about the ethics violations or sanctions, anonymously tipped E&P to the incident. Other journalists, speaking both on the record and not for attribution, expressed their frustration in a story that was posted Monday night.

The Star has asked Scripps' director of employee relations, Mary Minser, to conduct an investigation next week into the violations, and allegations of other unspecified ethics breaches. Minser will also look into how top Star management conducted their own investigation, discipline and disclosure of the ethics violations, the newspaper has said.

Luna limited his comments to the issue of the misused press credentials. He said he wanted to apologize to readers as well. The Star's published story does not include comments from Luna, nor any indication the writer of the story attempted to contact him for comment. The Star story was bylined "From staff reports."

"I apologize very sincerely," Luna said. "I'd like to leave it at that."