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Amerithrax, Day Two: Revenge of the followups

By Mark Obbie

We know who won the anthrax-scoop contest on Day One. What about the all-important Day Two, when the major papers scrambled to fill in as many blanks as possible? My comparison of the LA Times, NY Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today stacks up like so:Best new twist: LAT's David Willman, who plays the scoop artist game expertly, having held back a fresh angle (on suspect Bruce Ivins' patents and stake in anthrax vaccine discoveries) while teasing his competitors with a mention deep in his story that he had been onto Ivins "earlier this year." Best all-out assault: WaPo, with (by my count) 20 reporters, and even more researchers, and with a newsy, story-advancing tone (including details on plea bargaining by Ivins' lawyer set to occur on the day Ivins died and on the forensic analyses that led investigators to Ivins).Greatest magnanimity: The NYT, which credits the LAT far more prominently than others (and a raspberry to the Post, for citing "a news report" early in its main story and only belatedly bothering to mention which paper had scooped it the day before).Most perfunctory (tie): The WSJ (a quadruple-bylined staff piece that broke little ground) and USAT (for lazily using the excellent AP wrapup by Matt Apuzzo and Lara Jakes Jordan -- though, without their bylines). Of course, USAT has an excuse: It's Web-only until Monday's paper comes out (but does anyone actually notice such things anymore?).The NYT response, even with four stories and a solid team effort, feels uninspired next to the Post's package, in part because of the cautious tone set in the main story by Scott Shane and Eric Lichtblau (though, as we all know in situations involving so many writers and researchers thrown into a pot, that could be blamed on editors and rewrite people and not necessarily on a lack of reporting).Despite my praise for Willman and his paper, its second-day package is lacking victims' families and coworkers' reactions to the same extent as the competition's stories. There's only one companion piece to Willman's, a standard folo by Richard Schmitt. And, despite my nitpicking, all concerned (other than USAT, so far at least) deserve praise for hitting the story hard, but keeping enough distance to not assume Ivins' guilt quite yet. For one day's work, it's astonishing what they accomplished -- and a testament to having the bodies to throw at a big story (bean-counters, take note).

Full post as published by Lawbeat on August 02, 2008 (boomark / email).