Mayor West

1. When referring to the allegation that Mayor Jim West was pursuing underage boys online, why do you think editor Steven Smith differentiated between a legitimate news story and one that is not legitimate when he said, "If he's [Mayor Jim West] engaged in this activity … we need to know that. If he's not -- there's no story" ?

*Steven Smith made this statement, because news is what actually happens not rumors about what happens.

2. How did reporter Bill Morlin justify the use of a concealed identity on Gay.com as part of The Spokesman-Reviews and the FBI's "sting operation"? Why didn't Morlin himself create the assumed identity to engage Mayor West online?

* Bill Morlin justified using the sting operation by saying that the Spokesman-Review has rules which do not allow him to lie about who he is to conduct the sting. He then said that there are no rules about hiring someone to operate the sting. Morlin could not conduct the sting because it was against guidelines that Spokesman reporters must follow,

3. Why do you think The Spokesman-Review ultimately published so many articles on Mayor West's alleged improprieties?

* After thinking about the decisions the spokesman review made concerning Mayor West, I can only deduce that they wanted to sell papers. This story was a big scandal, but I still do not think West was charged with any of the things the spokesman-review accused him of. If West has no charges against him, then why was this such a big story?

4. In the final analysis, who benefited from The Spokesman-Reviews decision to expose Mayor West and his alleged improprieties? Who was hurt? Do you think the outcome was worth it? Explain your reasoning.

* The Spokesman-Review benefited, because they made some money. The mayor benefited, because he does not have to hide that he is gay any longer.
*The Spokesman-Review was hurt because they did not really break anything except that the mayor was gay. He was not charged with rape which is what they accused him of, and he was not charged with molesting children, the FBI even stopped their investigation. I think that this story hurt their credibility, because everything they accused the mayor of was found to be false.

5. The Spokesman-Review has been criticized as conducting a "witch hunt" in its reporting on the private lives of some city officials. Below is a link to another recent article on Spokane Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch. Do you think that there are any ethical problems in the reporting in this story? Why or why not?

*Yes,a community should be able to trust their elected officials. If West did molest boys in the 70's then he should have been tried in court. The community should know about sexual predators. After the accusation West was never convicted, the paper should have reported on that just as intensely as the did the accusation. Sometimes when people vilify someone it is hard to be fair and balanced, but that was the journalists job. Ultimately I feel the journalist and editor failed at looking at all angels of the story.