DEFEDE / Paper's Top Editor Claims Columnist Is Changing Story
KATHARINE Q. SEELYE The New York TimesExecutives at The Miami Herald, which fired a columnist late last month for tape-recording a former city official who subsequently killed himself in the paper's lobby, said yesterday that the columnist seemed to be changing his story about his motives in making the tape.
Tom Fiedler, The Herald's executive editor, said in an e-mail message that the columnist, Jim DeFede, had originally said that the official, Arthur E. Teele Jr., "said nothing to Jim that would have led him to believe that Art was on the precipice of suicide."
"Yet in subsequent days, Jim has started saying that he sensed he was hearing the cry of a friend about to do something drastic," Mr. Fiedler said, adding that he found Mr. DeFede's recent explanation not credible. "I've listened to the tape that Jim made and I, too, wouldn't have sensed an ominous outcome."
Mr. Fiedler said that what he described as a change in Mr. DeFede's version of events "leaves me where I was a week ago in concluding that Jim couldn't ethically or legally justify turning on his tape recorder because there was no compelling journalistic purpose in doing so."
Mr. DeFede's lawyer, Dan Gelber, said yesterday that Mr. DeFede's story had been consistent and that there was a compelling human reason for him to tape Mr. Teele.
The lawyer also said that Herald executives had not heard a full account of Mr. DeFede's side of the story beyond an eight-minute telephone conversation shortly after Mr. Teele killed himself.
Mr. Gelber said he had read a transcript of the recording. "It's pretty credible when Jim says that Art was unglued, and an hour later he kills himself. We're urging The Herald to release the tape."
The firing of Mr. DeFede has prompted an unusual outpouring from the nation's journalists, with some seeing it as a hasty decision made in chaotic circumstances. More than 500 journalists, including 200 who now work or have worked at The Herald, added their names to an electronic petition seeking Mr. DeFede's reinstatement.
The Herald's publisher, Jesús Díaz Jr., said yesterday that the petition had prompted him to think again about the firing, but that he still concluded it was the right thing to have done. "Many who signed it don't have as many facts as Tom and I have," he said, declining to specify which of those facts might change their view.
Mr. DeFede, appearing yesterday on the CNN program "Reliable Sources," said that he had been trying to calm Mr. Teele "because he was sounding so despondent."
An article in The Herald the day after the suicide quoted Mr. DeFede as saying of Mr. Teele, "He was very upset." But a line later in the same article reads: "He did not sound particularly upset, DeFede said."
State attorneys in Florida are investigating whether Mr. DeFede broke the law. Mr. DeFede spoke with investigators for more than two hours last week.
Tom Fiedler, The Herald's executive editor, said in an e-mail message that the columnist, Jim DeFede, had originally said that the official, Arthur E. Teele Jr., "said nothing to Jim that would have led him to believe that Art was on the precipice of suicide."
"Yet in subsequent days, Jim has started saying that he sensed he was hearing the cry of a friend about to do something drastic," Mr. Fiedler said, adding that he found Mr. DeFede's recent explanation not credible. "I've listened to the tape that Jim made and I, too, wouldn't have sensed an ominous outcome."
Mr. Fiedler said that what he described as a change in Mr. DeFede's version of events "leaves me where I was a week ago in concluding that Jim couldn't ethically or legally justify turning on his tape recorder because there was no compelling journalistic purpose in doing so."
Mr. DeFede's lawyer, Dan Gelber, said yesterday that Mr. DeFede's story had been consistent and that there was a compelling human reason for him to tape Mr. Teele.
The lawyer also said that Herald executives had not heard a full account of Mr. DeFede's side of the story beyond an eight-minute telephone conversation shortly after Mr. Teele killed himself.
Mr. Gelber said he had read a transcript of the recording. "It's pretty credible when Jim says that Art was unglued, and an hour later he kills himself. We're urging The Herald to release the tape."
The firing of Mr. DeFede has prompted an unusual outpouring from the nation's journalists, with some seeing it as a hasty decision made in chaotic circumstances. More than 500 journalists, including 200 who now work or have worked at The Herald, added their names to an electronic petition seeking Mr. DeFede's reinstatement.
The Herald's publisher, Jesús Díaz Jr., said yesterday that the petition had prompted him to think again about the firing, but that he still concluded it was the right thing to have done. "Many who signed it don't have as many facts as Tom and I have," he said, declining to specify which of those facts might change their view.
Mr. DeFede, appearing yesterday on the CNN program "Reliable Sources," said that he had been trying to calm Mr. Teele "because he was sounding so despondent."
An article in The Herald the day after the suicide quoted Mr. DeFede as saying of Mr. Teele, "He was very upset." But a line later in the same article reads: "He did not sound particularly upset, DeFede said."
State attorneys in Florida are investigating whether Mr. DeFede broke the law. Mr. DeFede spoke with investigators for more than two hours last week.
* Ethical firestorm burning in Miami
* Herald lets state attorney listen to tape
posted by Rui at 1:36 da tarde
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