No Depp after all, it turns out.

So when editors read the paper this morning, what a surprise to find out that Johnny Depp was not in Idaho after all. Three movements:

• In last week’s episode of Prairie Voice, correspondent Mary Jane Honegger had written a column about Johnny Depp helping her shovel snow off the roof .
• This also led to a nice discussion on Huckleberries , plus today’s response :
• The catch came this week when the columnist revealed the previous story to be a j-o-k-e .

There was no obvious hint that the column was meant as a joke, deputy city editor Dan Hansen said at this morning’s meeting. In fact, features editor Ken Paulman added that it’s not completely implausible to have a movie star in North Idaho because it’s happened before.

There was a short discussion at last Thursday’s meeting about whether it was really Depp. S-R folks gave it some thought and decided to confirm it. Features reporter Jim Kershner sent an email to the people at the Depp camp to ask whether he was in the area: Fiction, folks.

Hansen said the first column was technically in violation of the ethical code - accuracy and truth, etc. It gets fuzzier - S-R ethics code does not directly address the use of jokes or sarcasm in a column. (Also see: roles of newspaper to inform and occasionally entertain, and also see: columnist Doug Clark’s wiggle room)

Here are some selections from the ethics code draft:

Accuracy

proper names, titles, phone numbers, street and Web addresses and other facts (historical information, dates, equations, statistics and geographical directions) must be verified

Truth

It’s worth stating the obvious: Journalists seek truth. Our credibility depends on our ability to be accurate, balanced and independent with our news report.

Correspondents

Editors should strive to ensure that the work that correspondents do is in compliance with this code of ethics.

Some discussion questions
Do readers make the separations between columnist and reporter, reporter and correspondent, correspondent and columnist?
The Spokesman-Review declares it fiction when it’s fiction such as with Spokane7’s Shattered Glockenspiel . When is a story so ridiculous that it does not require a disclaimer that it is not true?
Perhaps more importantly, is it excusable to have a bad sense of humor?

Thin slices and kudos

• Empire cutting 130 jobs : Deaconess, Valley Hospital parent in financial straits
• John Blanchette: Hearings nothing more than a waste

A great photo:

Former deputy U.S. marshal David Brodhagen exits the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Spokane, Wash. Wednesday February 13, 2008 after pleading guilty to a federal charge of “official writings” where he lied about a college degree on job promotion papers. Brodhagen had used his bogus Saint Regis University degree that he purchased from a Spokane-based diploma mill to attain a promotion and a $15,000 salary increase. Rajah Bose photo .

Video to accompany this story about Valentine’s Day:

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Priceless quote

Senate backs wildlife corridor plan : Spokane would be ‘capital’ of Yellowstone to Yukon region. Managing editor Gary Graham and assistant city editor Dave Wasson’s pick:

“I hadn’t realized this, but Spokane’s the second-largest metropolitan area in the region, and it is the gateway from here,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle.
…As for the clause declaring Spokane the capital, Jacobsen said, he just added that “so people would think to go to [Spokane].”