All the news that's fit to print
Friday, April 11, 2008 at 09:11PM The news that Claudia Ragsdale filed for divorce earlier today citing "inappropriate marital conduct" did not come as a surprise. Every journalist in this town has been sitting on this "developing story" for months. In the case of our newspaper, we had what could only be termed unimpeachable testimony weeks ago from a source close to Mrs. Ragsdale who confirmed the growing chorus of rumors. Despite this, our publisher chose not to print what we knew.
I believe that was the right decision, but this story raises some interesting ethical questions for journalists. To what degree is a public figure's private life really private? How do you publicize the sins of the alleged guilty party without causing more pain for the aggrieved, in this case, the mayor's wife? If you believe a public figure's private misconduct can be linked to official misconduct, are you justified in printing what you know of the former?
The euphemistic "inappropriate marital misconduct" is code for adultery. If the plaintiff in a divorce suit does not cite names, is it ethical for a newspaper to do so? (This assumes, obviously, that your evidence is bullet-proof -- libel suits are expensive.)
What about editorial writing? Is this latest episode in the unraveling of the county's chief executive fair game for the editorialist? Where is the line drawn?
I don't pretend to have definitive answers to such questions. In the end, the journalist looks within, considers the audience, the potential fallout on innocent parties, and makes the most conscientious decision she or he can. Concerning the Ragsdale situation, let's just say for now that we're confident there's much more to come.
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Reader Comments (9)
I feel really sorry for Mrs.Ragsdale. I think the news media did the right thing to wait until she decided to break the story.
good point about deferring to Ms R.
meanwhile, the divorce papers list "no known address" for the mayor of Knox county, he is rumored to be at the Masters, and the knoxcounty.org web site is down for the weekend... wonder what it will look like on Monday???
j: We've heard the Masters story too. It's apparently accurate.
LVG
So are the County IT guys scrubbing the website? That is highly suspicious.
Larry, Inappropriate Marital Conduct is NOT code for adultery. It's a catch-all for irreconcilable differences. I know this from experience.
But yes, I agree that the divorce is fit to print, however any rumors about affairs are NOT. Since their are some non-public figures involved in those rumors, I think it's unethical to name names without solid evidence.
A reader pointed out that "inappropriate marital conduct" is not code for adultery. I stand corrected, speaking generally. However, in this case, there's reason to believe that it has probably occurred.
Thanks for the comment.
LVG
Larry,
it was wrong for you and every other reporter to sit on this, especially if you had corroboration from the family. This has been common knowledge around town for weeks, and you have ALL cost yourselves credibility NOT reporting on this.
If any of this "inappropriate marital conduct" involved other county employees, that's a damn big story, and not a private matter.
How many lines did local media devote in the 1990s to Monica Lewinsky?
The Knox County website is back up but you can find nothing for the Deputy Chief of Staff was is still employed. This same woman is allegedly the paramour of Mike Ragsdale. Was that the reason the website was down for the entire weekend? What else is missing? Taxpayers want to know what is happening.
http://web.archive.org/collections/web.html
try the wayback machine. It does not have graphics, but the text is there. The only thing I noticed was that the so-called mayor's picture was no longer the most prominent frame on the home page. Now he has his so-called response to the audit video. Looks like the old site has been "cleared" :)