For the third day in a row, subscribers to the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times Leader have read the latest revelations about the region’s Republican Congressman. According to police in Washington, D.C., 29-year-old Cynthia Ore accused Rep. Don Sherwood, 64, of attempting to choke her while performing a backrub in his D.C. apartment in mid-September — a charge she later recanted.
Readers of two other papers, the Times and Tribune of Scranton (both produced by the same staff), 15 miles up the road from Wilkes-Barre, have seen nary a word of the incident in their papers. Sherwood’s Congressional district covers much of both papers’ circulation zones.
On Saturday, the Wilkes-Barre paper, whose new editor, Matt Golas, took over three weeks ago, printed an “exclusive,” breaking news of the alleged incident and of the recantation by the woman. No criminal charges have been filed in the case.
Subsequent stories in the Times Leader have included an apology from Sherwood for embarrassing his family, reaction from local Republicans and constituents, and two editorials (here and here), calling for a better explanation from Sherwood.
The Associated Press wrote about Sherwood and Ore, as did, briefly, the Washington Post (links here and here), and the Washington Times.
Larry Beaupre, editor of the Scranton papers, stands by his decision not to write about Sherwood and Ore. The fact that his competition has spread the story across its front pages in recent days doesn’t change his mind.
“This is Gary Hart all over again. Does the National Enquirer set the [news] agenda and everyone has to follow it? Are we going to write about the personal life of a politician if it is not criminal, if it is not unethical and if it does not have any effect on his public policy role? If that’s the case, how many politicians’ sex lives will we examine?”
“I don’t think it’s fair reporting.”
Late last month, news outlets in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, including the Scranton Times and Tribune, received via fax the first page of the two-page police report filed after officers responded to a 911 call from Ore, who had locked herself in the apartment’s bathroom. The fax was sent by the Constitution Party candidate who ran against Sherwood in the November election. She said she had received it from an anonymous source in Washington.
Sherwood, who was re-elected to his fourth term last fall, is married with three children. He says Ore is a “casual acquaintance.” Ore told the Times Leader she and Sherwood had been lovers since 1999. Sherwood says he is a victim of a political smear campaign, and offered only a brief public apology with no additional explanation.
After reviewing the fax, Beaupre and his editors decided to pass. Since the Times Leader broke the story, he says he has received about a dozen calls from readers wondering why the Scranton papers have not covered it.
His response: “There are a number of politicians who have affairs. I don’t think we’re in the business of writing about their personal lives or peccadilloes unless they relate to their public responsibilities. … Our role isn’t to tell people what his personal life is like.”
“I can see where someone might arrive at a different decision. I wouldn’t impugn their motives, but I don’t see [us doing] it at this stage.”
What would elevate this to a story in Beaupre’s mind? “If it becomes a matter of public debate by somebody trying to make the case that this relates to public policy and his responsibilities. We would be obligated to cover it.”
The Wilkes-Barre paper is owned by Knight Ridder. The Scranton papers, which share a staff, are owned by the privately held Times Shamrock Communications, which also owns the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre and a weekly paper in Tunkhannock, Pa., Sherwood’s hometown. (Without ever mentioning Sherwood’s name, Robert L. Baker, editor of that weekly, the New Age-Examiner, yesterday explained his paper’s silence on the subject succinctly: “No story yet.”)
Historically, the Scranton papers have been far more conservative in their views than the Wilkes-Barre paper.
And while some may see the decision not to publish the story as media gatekeeping, there’s some truth to Beaupre’s determination that he, the editor — and not his competition — has to be the one who decides what goes into and what stays out of his newspapers.
That’s what good editors do — set standards of their own, not unthinkingly adopt those of others. And that’s true whether the competition is Star magazine or the Washington Post or the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.
–Susan Q. Stranahan
Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.