Above: This photoillustration, which appeared in the Boulder Daily Camera in 1997 to mark the one-year anniversary of JonBenet Ramsey’s murder, reflects the sensational coverage of the crime by the tabloid press. (Design by Daily Camera designer Joe Prentice (‘80).)
An unusual plea bargain involving charges against the editor of Globe magazine has led to a $100,000 donation to the School for teaching ethics.
In exchange for the donation, the Jefferson County district attorney’s office dropped charges against Globe editor Craig Lewis. Lewis was charged with criminal bribery and extortion after allegedly trying to obtain a copy of the ransom note in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation, Jefferson County Deputy Prosecutor Dennis Hall said.
After nearly a year of court maneuvers during which the Globe failed in several attempts to prevent the Jefferson County DA’s office from continuing its prosecution of the case, Hall
said the Globe originated the idea of settling the case financially.
“The offer to settle the case, as well as the amount of the settlement, actually came from the Globe,” Hall said. “They didn’t care where the money went; they just wanted the case over and done with.”
Donating the money to the School to teach ethics was Hall’s idea.
“During the case investigation I contacted several faculty members at both the law and journalism schools to get an idea of how this conduct was perceived in the field,” Hall said.
“I found out it was beyond the pale, pretty much completely unacceptable.”
“It’s a pleasant irony that this supermarket tabloid is in the position of having to support an ethics class when the Globe is anything but ethical,” said Associate Professor Len Ackland.
“It’s a lot like the lawsuits against tobacco companies, in which they had to do advertising trying to steer kids away from smoking.”
Stressing the importance that the School had no direct involvement in the settlement, Interim Dean Stewart Hoover said the money would be put to good use.
“We’ve taught journalism ethics for a long time in the School, and think it’s an important part of our program, but we have to do fund-raising in order to have the type of program we want to have here for our students, and this enables us to do that,” Hoover said. “The fact is
that there weren’t any strings attached to it; it was just a gift to do something that we want to do anyway. With a note of irony, we took it.”
The Globe was also pleased with the settlement, said Jeffrey Pagliuca, Lewis’ attorney.
“This case was an expensive distraction and (officials at the Globe) wanted to put all these issues behind them both for the publication and for Mr. Lewis,” Pagliuca said.
In addition to the financial loss, Pagliuca said he thinks the case will influence the Globe’s conduct in the future.
“I think this case highlighted the competitive nature of the media industry, as well as the variance in newsgathering tactics,” Pagliuca said. “I think the Globe will be a lot more careful in how they approach those tactics.”
The money will be invested in the University’s endowment fund, Hoover said, and will generate some $4,000 a year for the School.