My space doesn’t allow room to detail all the criticisms, but Kevin Lawler called it “a gross misstatement of fact.” His wife, former West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham, asked that the newspaper “continue its reputation for fairness and accuracy by printing an apology for the wrong and appalling personal gossip contained in Jose Lambiet’s Page Two column” of July 29 (“Graham mayoral bid? No slam dunk yet”).
The lead item addressed what Mr. Lambiet called “persistent rumors working their way through the city’s political grapevine” regarding Ms. Graham’s potential candidacy for mayor: “I’m told by a well-placed source that Graham recently said she isn’t running because discussions with her developer-hubby, Kevin Lawler, led her to believe that their shaky marriage this close from splitsville a year ago would not recover from another term. Graham reportedly indicated she also wants to help her recently divorced daughter, now 21, out of a partying phase.”
Mr. Lawler said that was an “utter fabrication and a knowingly fraudulent misstatement.” Ms. Graham said she had just returned from “a family reunion and vacation with my husband which was a happy time” and that the columnist “chose to hide behind ‘anonymous’ sources to invade the privacy of my daughter who is not in any way a public figure and is just 21 years old. She has never been part of my public life and is in no way a public person.”
Like her husband, Ms. Graham said she “strenuously told Mr. Lambiet before the article was printed that his information was way off base and incorrect. There was absolutely no reason for him to make the statements he did about my daughter. This has caused her a great deal of emotional upset and could have caused her problems at her place of employment where, by the way, she was subject to and passed a drug test for her job.”
In addition, she said that “to speculate on my ‘troubled’ marriage tarnishes The Post as an institution of credence and respect. In the first place, that, too, is a lie. In the second, how would anyone not a part of a marital relationship presume to know the nature of that relationship especially a gossipmonger on the outside? I am used to and accept gossip about me personally, but to allow it to involve innocent members of my family for the sake of ‘newspaper gossip’ is unacceptable and unprofessional journalism.”
Mr. Lawler added that the column “caused considerable tremors” for their development company because “our partners rely on the distinct talents and capabilities that Nancy and I jointly bring to our development efforts.”
Managing Editor Bill Rose said he saw “nothing wrong” with the column. “In fact, I think it is a good example of balanced reporting. Jose heard something about the mayor’s race from an excellent source and checked details with two other sources. Then he called former Mayor Graham and Mr. Lawler, both of whom were on vacation. He told them a well-placed source was reporting that Ms. Graham had decided to skip the 2007 West Palm Beach mayor’s race because of family considerations, including potential stress on a marriage that came close to separation a year ago and the desire by Ms. Graham to help an adult child through some troubles.
“He asked each about the political speculation. They both said the same thing: The speculation is wrong; Lawler was not pressuring Graham to stay out of the race; they were enjoying a good vacation together, indicating a healthy marriage. The columnist quoted Ms. Graham at length, but he did not quote Lawler, choosing to focus on the potential candidate. Her remarks echoed and amplified what Mr. Lawler had told Lambiet earlier.
“Ms. Graham said she has made no decision about a campaign and went into detail about how well her daughter is now doing, which Lambiet quoted in the column. The former mayor then lashed out at Mayor Lois Frankel and her supporters as being the source of the speculation, calling her ‘mean and vindictive.’ Again, because there was an accusation about Mayor Frankel, we called her up, too. Mayor Frankel denied any involvement and wished Ms. Graham’s family well.
“As do we. Our goal is to keep our readers informed about life in our community, especially about the political process. I think readers understand that political speculation often comes from sources who must remain anonymous. It is not our intention to cause hurt or embarrassment to anyone.”
Readers occasionally say this kind of journalism does not belong in The Post. Editors obviously see room for what readers have called a rumors-and-gossip column. So it is instructive to hear editors’ perception of the column as one that breaks news and features balanced reporting. In this case, speculation was addressed and denials were on the record, as Mr. Rose notes. And like this or any other feature, readers can choose to read it or not. But I agree that the daughter references were too detailed. And the combination of “well-placed” sources and edgy column amounted to another anonymous-source credibility hit.
