According to the Sept. 16 New Era: At the time of the arrest of former county coroner Dr. G. Gary Kirchner, former Lancaster County coroner, Attorney General Tom Corbett said the coroner "violated the public trust in order to help a small group of reporters gain an edge over competing media outlets."
The New Era states without further comment: "No charges were brought against the Intelligencer Journal reporters."
What is not mentioned is earlier reports that Ray Shaw, Intell editor, had been consulted by the reporters and was aware they were breaking the law.
The reporters were allowed a dubious plea bargain which protected all of them from prosecution. (Usually one person is offered a plea bargain so that the rest can be prosecuted.)
Why wasn't Shaw charged as a co-conspirator? Is a Lancaster Newspaper's Inc. editor too big a fish to be caught by an attorney general seeking to run for governor?
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Watchdog, the media criticism and analysis column at Newslanc.com.
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