Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Friday, December 10, 2004
Section:Front Page; Page:1

Tom Griscom Publisher and Executive Editor

After a conversation with Chattanooga Times Free Press military affairs writer Edward Lee Pitts, a soldier with the 278th Regimental Combat Team asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about armor on military vehicles.

Mr. Pitts, who is embedded with the 278th, was informed that the media would not be allowed to question Mr. Rumsfeld during a town hall session with troops. In an e-mail message to a Times Free Press reporter and in a telephone conversation with a senior editor, he described his conversation with two soldiers. He discussed questions to ask Mr. Rumsfeld.

Spc. Thomas "Jerry" Wilson, a member of the 278th from Ringgold, Ga., asked Mr. Rumsfeld why soldiers "had to dig through landfills to find scrap metal to up-armor vehicles."

In his newsroom e-mail, Mr. Pitts stated that he believed "lives are at stake with so many soldiers going across the border behind scrap metal."

He wrote, "It is amazing these guys are defending freedom but don’t want free speech in their own country. I was impressed that he (Rumsfeld) was willing to take the tough questions from the soldiers."

During training in Mississippi and California over the past several months, Mr. Pitts reported on this issue. It is an issue raised by the soldiers in the 278th. Last Wednesday, the Times Free Press printed on the front page a story with a photograph that showed members of the 278th welding scrap metal to be placed on their vehicles.

Sgt. Randy Harris, of the Tennessee Military Department said, "Regardless of where the question came from, it is a legitimate concern. The soldier that asked the question was earnest in asking. I think he was very truthful in the way he asked the question."

Questions have been raised as to whether Mr. Pitts used the soldier or put words in his mouth. While Mr. Pitts states that he discussed the armor question with the soldiers, Spc. Wilson chose to ask the question.

Bob Steele, an ethicist with the Poynter Institute, said, "Lee Pitts used some enterprise in how he went about getting that question on the table. From an ethical standpoint, he certainly needed to be honest with the soldiers about what he was doing — that he wanted them to ask his question. My impression is that is what he did. I don’t see any form of deceit in what he did."

Mr. Steele said the newspaper and the reporter had a responsibility to readers to be clear on the front end about the reporter’s role in the question. That is correct. In hindsight, information on how the question was framed should have been included in Thursday’s story in the Times Free Press. It was not.

Mr. Pitts used the tools available to him as a journalist to report on a story that has been and remains important to members of the 278th and those back at home.

This editor’s note provides background on how the information was obtained.

Story Copyright to Chattanooga Times Free press