NEW YORK (AP) – A Florida newspaper that knew ahead of time that a man planned to fly a gyrocopter into restricted airspace at the U.S. Capitol faced questions Thursday about whether its editors should have used this knowledge to try and stop the risky stunt.
The Tampa Bay Times, which posted reporter Ben Montgomery in Washington on Wednesday to document postal worker Doug Hughes’ self-styled protest flight that landed on the Capitol grounds, said that its responsibility was to cover, not change, the story. Hughes is charged with operating an unregistered aircraft and violating national airspace.
The debate is an old one in journalism: should reporters strictly observe society or be part of it? The Times’ role began last summer, when Hughes contacted Montgomery about his plan to fly the tiny aircraft in Washington. He wanted to do something splashy to draw attention to campaign finance reform by personally airmailing letters to members of Congress. The Times interviewed Hughes in advance, and took photos and videos of his gyrocopter, but Brown said the reporter made no commitment to do a story and made clear the newspaper was not his partner.
“Our job is to be observers,” said Neil Brown, editor and vice president of the Times. “We are not arms of the government. That said, that position was clearly strengthened by the fact that the authorities were already in the know about Doug Hughes.”
In its reporting, the newspaper confirmed with Hughes and a co-worker that they had been interviewed by the Secret Service, and Washington lawmakers said Thursday the troubled agency had interviewed Hughes two years ago.