News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: LostInTime on April 02, 2007, 09:44:07 AM Return to Full Version
Title: Stanton and the Times were never 'in cahoots'
Post by: LostInTime on April 02, 2007, 09:44:07 AM
Post by: LostInTime on April 02, 2007, 09:44:07 AM
link (http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/01/Northpinellas/Stanton_and_the_Times.shtml)
The Rev. Charlie Martin is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks, one of the biggest churches in the county. He said on television recently that I and the St. Petersburg Times were "in cahoots" with now-former Largo City Manager Steve Stanton about his plans for a sex change.
People may have assumed they were hearing the whole truth because the Rev. Martin is a good speaker with an authoritative delivery.
[...]
We didn't talk again about his future - until Feb. 20, when a Times reporter and an editor walked into my office and said they had heard that Stanton was planning a sex change. They said that when they had asked Stanton about it, he had refused to talk to anyone but me - and only off the record.
After I scraped my jaw off the floor, I called Stanton and refused to grant him an off-the-record interview. I explained that as journalists, our job is to get important news into the paper for our readers, not carry it around in our heads. And a public figure's planning to get a sex change certainly was important news.
The Rev. Charlie Martin is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks, one of the biggest churches in the county. He said on television recently that I and the St. Petersburg Times were "in cahoots" with now-former Largo City Manager Steve Stanton about his plans for a sex change.
People may have assumed they were hearing the whole truth because the Rev. Martin is a good speaker with an authoritative delivery.
[...]
We didn't talk again about his future - until Feb. 20, when a Times reporter and an editor walked into my office and said they had heard that Stanton was planning a sex change. They said that when they had asked Stanton about it, he had refused to talk to anyone but me - and only off the record.
After I scraped my jaw off the floor, I called Stanton and refused to grant him an off-the-record interview. I explained that as journalists, our job is to get important news into the paper for our readers, not carry it around in our heads. And a public figure's planning to get a sex change certainly was important news.