REPORTING ON YOURSELF

An Independent Analysis of
The Spokesman-Review’s
Coverage of and Role in the Spokane
River Park Square Redevelopment Project

prepared and published by the
Washington News Council
Bill Richards, investigator / writer
Clifford G. Rowe, project leader

requested by
The Spokesman-Review
Steven A. Smith, editor

(Copyright May 2007, Washington News Council)

INTRODUCTION

-----How well a newspaper reports on itself and its role in the business life of the community is a significant measure of its commitment to the citizens it serves.

-----That is the larger issue underlying the discussion of The Spokesman-Review’s coverage of the Cowles Co. involvement in the development of downtown Spokane.  As a major property owner and commercial influence in the Inland Northwest, the Cowles Co., which publishes The Spokesman-Review, was an integral part of the news during the redevelopment of River Park Square (RPS).

-----Would the newspaper have reported on this development differently had the Cowles Co. not been involved?  Critics inside and outside The Spokesman-Review have said that its coverage did not meet sound journalistic standards.  That is, they believe that another company would have been treated differently and received greater scrutiny.

-----That such criticism would emerge is not surprising, given the potential for conflict between the journalistic function of any publishing company and the often-diversified business interests of its owners.  Sound journalistic practices are not necessarily in conflict with sound business practices, but without great care and considerable transparency, they can appear to be.

-----How that conflict, whether real or perceived, is resolved inevitably affects public knowledge of the issues involved, and, ultimately, the newspaper’s credibility.  Because this role of the press in helping to inform citizens’ decisions is crucial to the process of self-governance, it should be a newspaper’s first priority.

-----When considering The Spokesman-Review’s coverage of the RPS redevelopment project, we adopted as our guiding principles the following provisions of the respective codes of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME):

SPJ Code of Ethics

Act Independently
Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.
Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.
Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.

APME Code of Ethics

Integrity
The newspaper should report the news without regard for its own interests, mindful of the need to disclose personal conflicts.  It should not give favored news treatment to advertisers or special-interest groups.
It should report matters regarding itself or its personnel with the same vigor and candor as it would other institutions or individuals.  Concern for community, business or personal interests should not cause the newspaper to distort or misrepresent the facts. . . .

Independence
The newspaper and its staff should be free of obligations to news sources and newsmakers.  Even the appearance of obligation or conflict of interest should be avoided.

-----Our inquiry does not attempt to determine who was right or wrong about the economics and legalities of redeveloping River Park Square.  Squads of lawyers and investigators have spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars on that task.  To date, no one has been convicted of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with the project.

-----Nor does this report attempt to cover many of the issues already so thoroughly addressed by The Inlander and Camas Magazine; those exhaustive critiques stand on their own.

-----Instead, this report addresses the question of how well The Spokesman-Review performed in its RPS coverage, focusing on some stories that highlight specific ethical issues the paper encountered as the coverage unfolded.  It then discusses actions the paper took then and should take now to deal with these issues.

-----The potential conflict in a one-newspaper town where the parent entity also engages in significant non-journalistic activities is not peculiar to Spokane and The Spokesman-Review.  For that reason, the report concludes with recommendations any publisher should consider in order to operate with greater journalistic integrity.
More generally, this report may serve as a case study for other journalists who face similar issues, and for students of journalism during their professional training.

-----Our report is divided into four sections:

1. Introduction
2. Narrative and Analysis
3. Findings and Recommendations
4. Additional Background Information

Note:  In the following Narrative and Analysis, all cited stories, documents and interview audio files are accessible from the Washington News Council’s and The Spokesman-Review’s web sites.