The Deseret News quoted Poynter’s Kelly McBride in a story about the paper’s failure to expose the wrongdoings of Utah House Majority Leader Kevin Garn, who recently confessed that he sat nude in a hot tub with a minor a quarter of a century ago.
The paper knew about the hot tub incident eight years ago but didn’t report it:
” ‘It was a bad decision not to report it,’ said Kelly McBride, ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, a journalism training organization.
” ‘You essentially have someone who has presented one face to the public and it has been revealed that may not be true and accurate. And most likely you guys (the Deseret News) helped him present his narrative to the public. For that reason alone, you have an obligation to correct the record,’ she said in a telephone interview.”
