We felt an obligation, having spoken with the five men, to let our readers see, and hear, what they said about their experiences with Craig. He continues to represent Idaho in the Senate, even though his clout has diminished. Craig had reversed his vow to resign and had appeared on prime-time TV for an hour to say he'd been wrongly accused. We published Sunday in a different context, yes - Sen. Only after news of the guilty plea did we publish in August. After talking to Craig in May 2007, and hearing his denials, we decided to wait. Remember, when it was "out there" in the fall of 2006 we did not publish, but instead did the reporting. I really don't think we've lowered the bar at all. Craig said he was a victim of "profiling" in Minneapolis and because he continues to deny engaging in homosexual conduct. These five men came forward and agreed to talk because Sen. Then, as you know, Craig issued a blanket denial Sunday after we published. Unable to hear from him or his staff directly, we quoted his aides talking to other media and denying the accounts of sex offered by Phillips and Jones. But we did our best to give him a chance to comment.
Sunday, we named four men, and relayed the account of another man, unnamed.įor Sunday's story, we didn't get Craig's response because his policy is he won't talk to us any more. In August, we published accounts from three unnamed men, all denied by Craig. His thoughts? The threshold didn't get lower for us. I decided to put those questions to the Editor, Managing Editor and Political Columnist at the newspaper.įirst off, Dan Popkey, the political columnist. Does the threshold for news get lower once something is already "out there?".If there wasn't already the initial Craig Story out there, would these allegations have the journalistic "oomph" to be considered news?.From a journalistic standpoint, does the fact that you've already broken the story make one's job easier or harder?.But seeing the coverage given the story all day Monday, a few questions occurred to me: It also reported the accounts of four other men who did not agree to be identified but who described sexual advances or encounters involving the conservative Republican, who opposes same-sex marriage and has a strong record against gay rights.It's a blockbuster advancement in the story, no doubt. The newspaper identified four men and reported details of the encounters they say involved Craig. Larry Craig or were targets of sexual advances by the Idaho lawmaker at various times during his political career, a newspaper reported Sunday… According to the Associated Press' reporting of the matter: Eight men say they either had sex with Sen. Eight men have now come forward in the Larry Craig story – for reasons that range from clear anger to admitted self-promotion – and they have told their stories to the Idaho Statesman, the newspaper that broke the story in late August.