Psst…

The newspaper was placed in a rather unique and uncomfortable position yesterday when we received an anonymous tip related to the investigation of a sex offender living in the home of a Spokane Police officer . Because the tip was anonymous and unconfirmed, we’re not publishing it. However, it raised enough of a safety concern that we opted to pass it along to the FBI.

At first glance, this contradicts an ethical principle that says journalists shouldn’t assist in law enforcement investigations. However, there are some key exceptions in this case. First, the tip was unsolicited, and did not come about through the reporting process. Second, the safety of children was involved.

“In the end, we can’t be party to the potential abuse of children,” Steve Smith said.

Smith said that if the tip is confirmed, and becomes a part of the story, we’ll have to explain our role in its discovery.

Senior editor Carla Savalli noted that there is somewhat of a precedent – when we hired a computer forensic expert to verify Jim West’s online activities, that expert was instructed to contact law enforcement immediately upon discovery of any illegal activity.

We may (or may not) hear more about this later.

The daily Huckleberries

Smith said he heard from one reader who questioned the appropriateness of letting Coeur d’Alene city councilman Mike Kennedy write a column for Huckleberries while Dave Oliveria is on vacation. Smith said he wasn’t concerned, because Kennedy isn’t up for re-election and the piece he wrote wasn’t political in nature.

Other questions were raised about the formatting of the print feature, which closely follows Oliveria’s format and includes his mug shot. I argued that it could be confusing for readers who may not pay attention to the italic note that Dave’s on vacation. Idaho editor Scott Maben said the intention was to preserve the branding of the daily column, which is still a relatively new feature.