Ironically, most news tips begin as rumors.
Gov. Jeb Bush’s recent denial of a persistent rumor that he had an affair with an appointee highlighted different media’s policies regarding this type of unconfirmed information.
Bush was forced to deny the rumor after it began appearing not only on the Internet but in some mainstream newspapers. During the press conference, Bush said that he expected supermarket “tabloids” to publish rumors but not serious news organizations, which should abide by certain journalistic principles.
The Herald did not publish stories on the unverified rumor. Interesting enough, rumors often are the fuel of journalism’s fire. Most news tips begin as rumors. It takes dogged, aggressive reporting to verify information that gets printed.
Several Herald reporters had heard the Bush rumors last November but dismissed them as “gossip.”
But the rumors continued to grow appearing on a website run by Democratic activists. State Editor Jay Ducassi, who supervises the reporters in the Tallahassee bureau, said he started paying more attention to it once he heard that a Vanity Fair article would reveal evidence that the alleged affair had created marital problems that could prevent the governor from running for re-election.
A Herald reporter on a flight from Tallahassee noticed that Columba Bush was flying to Miami alone. That, coupled with several solo weekend appearances by the governor, continued to pique reporters’ interest.
Unsubstantiated rumors almost never are published by mainstream newspapers. When faced with a rumor that involves a prominent political figure, editors weigh many factors. Not only is the veracity of the unconfirmed information crucial, but how relevant is it that readers are informed about it. Public figures such as elected officials, naturally, are more open to public scrutiny and accountability than private citizens. But even public figures have a right to a certain amount of privacy.
The Clinton-Lewinsky affair saturated the public’s tolerance for media coverage of public figures’ infidelities.
But the governor’s personal life could interfere with his political life to the degree that he would not run for office. That could have repercussions for Florida residents.
Ducassi asked his reporters in Tallahassee to ask Bush about the rumor privately. On a flight from the capital to Miami to shadow the governor, Capital Bureau Chief Steve Bousquet got his chance to ask if the rumor was true. Bush denied it on the record.
Herald editors felt that no story denying a rumor should be published.
“My view was that it was an unsubstantiated rumor and that it should not be published,” said Herald Executive Editor Martin Baron. “[The governor] has every right to deny the rumor without feeling that that will become the basis for a story.”
As the week progressed so did the rumor in Tallahassee. On May 11, the governor made an unprecedented call to several reporters, including Bousquet, and off the record emphatically denied the rumor. Herald editors met to reassess the events and discuss what other state papers may publish.
In a long discussion where some editors thought that the “extraordinary” nature of the telephone call might merit a story, the decision was against publishing any story, no matter what the competition did.
“There is a belief in journalism today that if it is `out there,’ we have to deal with it,” Baron said. “Our competition should not set our standards.”
Two state newspapers did run stories on the rumor over the Mother’s Day weekend. On Monday, Bush refuted the rumor during a bill-signing ceremony. The Herald published the story inside the Metro Miami section, a bit underplayed by some standards. But the journalistic judgment shown throughout was extremely sound.
