Newspapers Show True Colors When They Get Beat

Bill Simmons, political editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, did his readers a disservice on Aug. 21 when he wrote about Jim Hendren’s confession of an extramarital affair as if the announcement was an act of Hendren’s own volition.

Actually, Hendren fessed up because of a Page One story in the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal dated Aug. 20. This publication broke the news of the affair and quoted Hendren’s slippery non-denial of extramarital relations. CBS-affiliate KFSM, Channel 5, followed it up during three television broadcasts over the weekend.

Our story sent other reporters scurrying to follow up with Hendren.

The Morning News of Springdale published an Aug. 21 account of the affair, in which it acknowledged that the Business Journal had broken the story the day before. But the paper also called our story “journalistically suspect” in an Aug. 26 editorial because we used an unidentified source for background. Contrary to what the Morning News editorial says, the Business Journal’s reporting was solid. We also took the initiative to ask Hendren point-blank about the affair based on information learned through routine reporting.

If the dailies already knew about the affair, as they claim, where was their initiative? Hendren himself confirmed the affair with his Bill Clinton-esque admission of having made “marital mistakes.”

Despite already being given an opportunity to be forthright by the Business Journal, Hendren summoned Simmons and Brenda Blagg of The Morning News on Aug. 20 to hear “his side” of the story.

We contend that the D-G in particular, which is distributed statewide, was asked to get Hendren’s word out because the newspaper had missed the story and would most likely respond with a good-ol’-boy, sympathetic treatment to save face with its readers.

We applaud Hendren’s handlers, who made the best of a bad situation by getting the D-G to pander to his Jimmy Swaggert-esque confession.

If all media operated the way The Morning News suggests it should (in the Aug. 26 editorial), we would still be waiting for Clinton to issue an official press release to tell us he had a fling with Monica Lewinsky. Apparently, The Morning News thinks reporters shouldn’t ask politicians tough questions: They’ll come forward and tell you what to print when they’re good and ready.