NorthwestFebruary 11, 2004

Editor says Boise newspaper was required to keep Iraq trip secret in exchange for story

Adam Wilson

BOISE -- How long does it take a newspaper to agree to not to publish one news story -- the governor is flying into a war zone -- in exchange for an exclusive ride along?

For the Idaho Statesman's Executive Editor Carolyn Washburn, it only took "about a minute" to decide.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne approached Washburn with the proposition last week: He would tell her about a major news story, but she had to agree not to say anything until it was under way.

That was the most awkward point, Washburn said Tuesday, but she decided to listen.

The result was the Idaho Statesman's exclusive story about Kempthorne's visit to Iraq, which was published on the Boise newspaper's Web site early Tuesday morning.

The trip was so secret that almost no one, not even Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, knew where Kempthorne was going until the Statesman let the cat out of the bag.

"He said he was on (National Governor's Association) business, which is what he's doing," Risch said Tuesday. "I had more lead time on this than in other times he's left."

Risch is now acting governor, a position he fills frequently as lieutenant governor. He said it was difficult to combine his schedule with Kempthorne's, but he's used to it.

This trip, however, marked the first time in memory that an Idaho newspaper knew where Kempthorne was going and kept it secret.

"Very quickly, I felt I understood, I appreciated the secrecy," Washburn said. "I agreed to not publish anything until they were on the ground."

Kempthorne's spokesman, Michael Journee, said the trip would have been canceled if word had leaked out beforehand.

Journee said the U.S. Department of Defense approached Kempthorne and five other governors about the Iraq visit. Each governor was allowed to take one news organization, and if the departure was announced beforehand, the trip would have been canceled for security reasons.

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Journee said the Statesman's reporter, Greg Hahn, knew about the plan before he did.

After Journee learned of the plan, he referred to the governor's schedule this week as being "out of the office or working in his role as chairman of the National Governor's Association.

While the Statesman had not considered sending a reporter to Iraq before, the paper purchased a ticket -- worth about $3,500 -- to Amman, Jordan, where the visiting governors are based.

The news value, Washburn said, was Kempthorne's presence in the war zone.

"It's coverage of the governor, and even beyond that, I don't know if I'd call it a glimpse at White House strategy, but this is more than just Idaho's governor," she said.

Washburn compared the situation to President Bush's Thanksgiving trip to Iraq, during which the selected reporters agreed not to publish anything until the president had returned to the United States.

While that story made the front page of newspapers nationwide, critics of the president denounced the trip as a publicity stunt and chastised the media for going along with it.

Washburn said situations like that trip and Kempthorne's will require the media to think in new ways about security and reporting.

And she said going along was definitely worth it, noting her reporter has interviewed Iraqi businessmen, and U.S. officials, as well as tracked "Kempthorne in action."

"I think we're looking for news out of all those things, and some good story telling to bring those things closer to home," she said.

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Wilson may be contacted at awilson@lmtribune.com

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