Mudslide!

This morning’s meeting began with a discussion of whether the Schweitzer mudslide story should have run on the front page (for those of you who only read online, the story ran on page B2). Steve Smith said the story belonged on the front page (based in part on the timing of the occurrence), and expressed disappointment that we didn’t have a photo from the scene.

Idaho editor Scott Maben disagreed, saying that the relatively minor damage and the fact that there were no injuries made it difficult to justify a front page presence. “I think playing it where we did was just fine for what we knew last night,” he said.

Maben added that the story ran on page A4 of the Coeur d’Alene Press and page one of the Bonner County Daily Bee .

Ethical quandry

One story that the table felt wasn’t underplayed was today’s city ethics policy story. The latest development - Mayor Dennis Hession is refusing to release a legal opinion that concludes an outgoing public works director is exempt from the city’s recently adopted ethics code. As reporter Jim Camden put it: “They’re screwing with the public, and we need to keep that pretty front and center.”

Smith said we’re going to continue covering the story aggressively, deliberately putting pressure on the mayor to respond to public calls for a more open city government. We’re going to continue to take criticism from people who feel we’re unfairly maligning Roger Flint, he said, and we probably shouldn’t expect a tremendous upswell of public reaction on the issue. Nevertheless, this story falls squarely under at least three of our stated values , and we’re obligated to pursue it.

Live from the newsroom - update

Our newsroom meeting table is now wired with intimidating-looking microphones and a camera. We’re still experimenting with the setup and tweaking the audio, as well as getting the newsroom accustomed to being on camera. Smith said we’ll plan on a launch date the week after Memorial Day.

There’s been a lot of concern among editors and reporters about tipping our hand to the competition, and Smith said today that there will be times when the camera and microphones will be turned off (at the end of the meeting) to discuss enterprise or investigative stories in progress.

In photo, clockwise from bottom left: Me, managing editor Gary Graham’s right arm, deputy editor Tad Brooks, business editor Addy Hatch, wire editor Tom Green, 7 editor Nancy Malone, assistant features editor Rick Bonino, copy editors Kat Smith and Andrew Zahler, and assistant city editor David Wasson.