Bee journalists ordered to take 'junk bonds' out of lead

Sacamento Bee reader representative Armando Acuna writes Sunday that business journalists at the paper were ordered by top executives to take the “junk bond” status out of a lead and headline about its parent company, McClatchy Co.

Acuna wrote, “Business editor Cathie Anderson didn’t agree with Rodriguez’s decision, and she discussed it with him. She said she and fellow editors ask themselves all the time about whether their coverage of the company is overly harsh, in part because of fears they will be accused of being soft on McClatchy if they aren’t aggressive.

“‘Any business leader can call up and discuss their company and make a case for what is fair coverage,’ Anderson said. ‘That should include our own company. But possibly when it is your own company … the filters that we use as journalists don’t work as well.’

“Reporter Dale Kasler has been The Bee’s main reporter on the story. He wrote the April 27 article about the Standard & Poor’s downgrade. He said his editor, Wayne Davis, told him the reference to junk bonds that he had written in his lead would have to be removed. (Davis declined to be interviewed on the record, as did Tom Negrete, assistant managing editor for Sports and Business.)

“‘I was very, very angry. I thought it was a mistake,’ said Kasler, who has been at the paper for more than 10 years. ‘I felt we were trying to protect the company in some way. … That’s the first time I’ve ever felt that way.'”

Read more here.