Washington Editors: Reluctant to Publish 'D.C. Madam' Client List-(Too Many Democrats?)

Editor And Publisher ^ | 5-2-07 | Joe Strupp

[tcrlaf]

NEW YORK As the so-called "D.C. Madam" case unfolds in the nation's capital, with alleged prostitution ringleader Jeane Palfrey claiming a list of thousands of prominent clients, Washington-area editors say they are following the story, but remain reluctant to print such a list, were it available, without serious scrutiny.

"You would have to evaluate it to the extent humanly possible and verify it," said Michael Tackett, Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune.

(Snip)

Andrew Alexander, Washington bureau chief for Cox Newspapers, which serves 17 daily papers, also urged caution when exposing anyone on the list. "It would be a starting point to do additional reporting," he said about any list the bureau might obtain. "We would have to see who is on the list, we would have to look at matters of fairness, and of accuracy."

(Snip) Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times Washington bureau chief, offered a similar caution. "There is a legitimate story here in several ways, but it is not the biggest story of the year," he said. "If I had a list, I'd look at it and work from it. You have to look at each [name] individually. There is a public figure test."

Fran Coombs, managing editor of The Washington Times, also urged careful reviews of any names, noting that the Internet can prompt some to push information like this out too soon. "People post things on the Internet without knowing what is true and what is not," he said. "We would not just print it, we would look at it. You see who is on it and make some calls. Right now, we are just kind of watching the story."

[Maigrey]

Pulitzers are only when you expose Republicans. If it’s a democrat, then the story is considered non-important, and not worth publishing.

[bert]

We are Waiting.... For Playboy or National Enquirer to begin. Once started,we’ll pile on.

[bert]

The name of the game is Yahoo(or Google if you lean left)

Item 94 on the list is Orlando 407 425 4277

Search for that number and you get: http://local.yahoo.com/details?fr=dd-local-more&id=14115088

A condo in Orlando.

For those of you with a little time to play, search for some numbers on the list.

The list is here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1827219/posts

[bert]

ping.... see my post above for a gme to play

[AD from SpringBay]

Wouldn’t it be interesting if the list just happened to land on a blog while the reluctant dinosaurs were still trying to cover their democrats?

[tcrlaf]

http://orlando.craigslist.org/rfs/314290413.html\

FOR SALE-PArk Lake Towers Condo-379,900

[Steve_Seattle]

Can someone explain to me why - of all the names supposedly on this list - the only two that have come out so far are both associated with the Bush administration, and the Iraq war in particular? Or is the answer obvious?

[Steve_Seattle]

"Item 94 on the list is Orlando 407 425 4277."

Morty Seinfeld

[philled]

"You would have to evaluate it to the extent humanly possible and verify it,"

I think what he really was trying to say was "We are compiling a database of all know pseudonyms used by and anagrams of William Jefferson Clinton. These names will, most assuredly, not be on the list."

[STARWISE]

Somebody could have a lot of fun with this phone bill that she released:

http://www.deborahjeanepalfrey.com/download/August1996.pdf

[an amused spectator]

A “this story gets buried faster than a Clinton Aide in Marcy Park” bump