The Rockford Register Star published results today of a four-month investigation into allegations about the city's (now departing) school superintendent. These allegations stemmed from a long letter written to the superintendent by a departing administrator. A weekly newspaper in Rockford, The Rock River Times, FOIA'd for the letter, received it several months ago and immediately published it. The Register Star -- in the face of critics that said it was protecting the superintendent -- chose not to publish it until allegations could be checked out.
Here's Register Star executive editor Linda Grist Cunningham's accompanying blog post about how the paper approached this thorny ethical issue.
And here's the letter in question, turned by the Register Star into an interactive graphic where all of the serious charges are footnoted.
Tricky stuff. By the time the paper's investigation was finished and published, the superintendent had resigned -- her last day is this Saturday. And anyone who wanted to see the letter had already seen it on the Rock River Times website.
In the face of all that, the Register Star stuck to its journalistic principles and had the story last ... but probably best.
Here's Register Star executive editor Linda Grist Cunningham's accompanying blog post about how the paper approached this thorny ethical issue.
And here's the letter in question, turned by the Register Star into an interactive graphic where all of the serious charges are footnoted.
Tricky stuff. By the time the paper's investigation was finished and published, the superintendent had resigned -- her last day is this Saturday. And anyone who wanted to see the letter had already seen it on the Rock River Times website.
In the face of all that, the Register Star stuck to its journalistic principles and had the story last ... but probably best.
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