How the news media protects and covers up for its own
Robert J. Caldwell, editorial page editor of The Oregonian since November 1995, died Saturday of a heart attack.
Caldwell — simply “Bob” to everyone at The Oregonian — was known all over the building for his big smile and a bigger laugh. But those close to him also knew him to have a keen mind, excellent news judgment and a heart full of compassion.
The rest of the story is about what a wonderful person Caldwell had been. But there was a little bit left out of the story…as their first instinct was to protect the institution:
On March 10, Bob Caldwell, a respected Oregon journalist and longtime editor of the newspaper’s opinion pages, died of a heart attack at age 63. Two days later, the newspaper told readers Caldwell had suffered his fatal heart attack while in his car.
The next day, March 13, the paper printed a correction—based on a police report—that revealed Caldwell had suffered the heart attack after a sex act in the Tigard apartment of a 23-year-old woman.
….
In a March 16 column, Oregonian Editor Peter Bhatia explained that the original error came after one of the newspaper’s veteran editors provided false information about how and where Caldwell had died. Bhatia fired the editor, Kathleen Glanville, although he didn’t tell readers he had done so.
Glanville apologized to the newsroom, explaining she had hoped to protect Caldwell’s reputation.
Source: A Newsman’s Secret – Willamette Week
In fact, Glanville even went to remove Caldwell’s car from the scene of the death.
Basically, the married Caldwell had acted as a “sugar daddy” to a 23 year old student, in exchange for sex favors. An Oregonian editor covered up the facts of the case, and was fired. Another editor then covered up the firing of the editor who provided the false information. The Oregonian claimed it didn’t know the woman was a call girl, even though she’d been advertising her services for three years, charging up to $200/hour.
Keep this in mind as read the sanctimonious proclamations of the press, generally implying their superior knowledge and judgement versus the rest of us. They still operate large propaganda printing presses and broadcast transmitters.