Word: herald
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Even so, the Herald's decision to conduct a stakeout of Gary Hart's home marked something of a watershed for political journalism. The investigation began with two anonymous telephone calls to Political Editor Tom Fiedler from a woman who claimed that a friend of hers was having an affair with Hart. She cited several long-distance phone calls between Hart and the woman (whom she described but refused to identify), recounted a yacht trip they had taken together, and said the couple planned to rendezvous at Hart's Washington town house that Friday. Fiedler was skeptical. But when several...
...town house and stationed himself across the street. He saw Hart emerge from the front door at 9:30 p.m. with a blond woman whom he had noticed aboard the flight from Miami. His suspicions aroused, McGee kept watch and saw the pair return at 11:17. Three other Herald staffers (Fiedler, Investigative Editor James Savage and a photographer) joined the watch late Saturday morning. They did not see Hart and the woman emerge again until shortly after dark Saturday evening. At that point Hart apparently noticed the surveillance team, and he and his companion re-entered the town house...
...newsmen a lengthier interview and an opportunity to talk to the women if the reporters would delay their story. They refused, fearing that the extra time would give the Hart camp a chance to construct a cover story and possibly hold a press conference to try to discredit the Herald's article in advance...
...speech before the newspaper publishers, Hart charged that the Herald reporters had "refused to interview the very people who could have given them the facts before filing their story." Executive Editor Heath Meriwether sharply disputed the charge, pointing out that the Sunday story contained responses from both Broadhurst and Hart. Says Savage: "If Hart had even hinted that he wanted to talk to us again later, we would have done that. But he never told us he would give us any further information...
Many journalists faulted the Herald for not being more cautious with such an explosive story. "They rushed the story into print," says George Cotliar, managing editor of the Los Angeles Times. "I think I would have waited for a day to see what Donna Rice had to say." The Sunday story, in fact, was printed before the Herald even learned Rice's name. But Howard Simons, former managing editor of the Washington Post and now head of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, defends the Herald's actions: "If they'd waited a day, they wouldn't have known anything...