Eddie Curran is the reporter whose reports to the Mobile Press Register
fostered the US Attorney's prosecution against Gov. Siegelman. Hmmmmmm.


















Governor's staff bars interviews with investigative news reporter


Officials allege 'bias and unprofessional behavior' on part of award-winning
writer; Curran backed by editor


9/22/02
By JEB SCHRENK
Staff Reporter

Officials in Gov. Don Siegelman's administration said they will no longer
speak with a Mobile Register investigative reporter because of what they say
is his "bias and unprofessional behavior."

They cite reporter Eddie Curran's use of obscenities in responding angrily
on the telephone to what Curran has said he believed was an administration
staff member's insult that questioned his professional objectivity.

Register Editor Mike Marshall said Curran, whose stories in recent months
have raised questions about state business handled by Siegelman's
administration, will not be reassigned and will continue to cover state
government.

"Eddie should not have lost his temper," Marshall said. "He has apologized,
I've apologized, so now it's time for everybody to get back to work."

Marshall said the administration's other allegations are "distortions of
reality, and most of them are of such trivial significance that I'm
surprised they bothered raising them."

Curran's series of investigative stories this year about no-bid state
contracts have led to a criminal investigation of a proposed state warehouse
deal. The stories also prompted Siegelman to issue an executive order
requiring people who do business with the state to disclose any family ties
they may have with officials in state government.

Siegelman also has publicly thanked the Register and Curran for revealing
details about the warehouse deal. In letters to the newspaper, the
administration accused Curran of:

*Cursing at a press office staff member on the telephone in late July in a
"verbal attack" that lasted more than five minutes and included the use of
profanity.

While Marshall said Curran's language was unprofessional, he said the staff
member provoked Curran by insinuating he was "assisting one of Siegelman's
opponents" and "wondering if Eddie had trouble sleeping at night."

*Helping edit an ethics complaint filed against Siegelman by Mobile lawyer
Jim Zeigler. Of the accusations, this one appears to be the most serious,
alleging Curran assisted in filing an ethics complaint, then wrote about it.


"That is utterly false," Marshall said. The July ethics complaint accuses
Siegelman of violating state law by receiving money from his former law firm
while also taking actions as governor that benefited the firm financially.

Marshall said Curran interviewed Zeigler prior to Zeigler's filing of the
ethics complaint. Based on Curran's questions, Zeigler amended his
complaint. Curran then faxed his copy of Zeigler's draft, complete with his
reporter's notes, to the governor's office for its comment. Marshall said he
was confident Curran did not suggest to Zeigler that he revise his
complaint.

*Drinking alcohol with a Republican senator and others in a Senate office on
the last night of this year's regular session of the Legislature. Drinking
is not allowed in the State House, the governor's office said.

Marshall said Curran, while on his own time, was offered and accepted some
wine in a State House office. Drinking and socializing is common in
Montgomery on the last night of a legislative session, he said.

*Becoming so inebriated that night at a Montgomery bar that he was unable to
drive home. Curran had no money and asked then-Chief of Staff Paul Hamrick
for $20 for a cab, the administration said.

Marshall said Curran came to a function with someone else and did not have
his car or ATM card. He asked Hamrick if he could borrow money from him for
cab fare, and repaid Hamrick the next day. Marshall said Curran acknowledged
drinking but did not consider himself to be "inebriated."

*Commenting to Hamrick about the breast sizes of women in the governor's
press office. Marshall said Curran recalled telling Hamrick that the staff
was attractive, but did not make any comment about anyone's breasts.

*Calling press secretary Carrie Kurlander at home on a Saturday after 9:30
p.m. in a non-emergency situation and calling Nick Bailey, a top
administration official, after midnight.

Curran said he checked phone company records dating back to April and they
reflect three calls to Kurlander's home, Marshall said. Two calls were on a
Saturday - one at noon and one at 6:15 p.m., according to Curran. Marshall
said that any calls to Kurlander's home would be made either at her request
or in an effort to ensure fairness and accuracy.

Curran remembers no such late-night call to Bailey, he said.

"This administration will not respond to questions from Mr. Curran or from
any individual serving as Mr. Curran's surrogate or representative," Chief
of Staff James Buckalew stated in a Sept. 13 letter to Marshall.

The administration has informed Marshall that state agencies under the
governor's control also will not respond to Curran's questions.

In place of comment to Curran, according to Buckalew's letter, the
governor's office wants the following statement inserted in all of Curran's
stories:

"Due to the bias and unprofessional behavior of this Mobile Register
reporter, the Governor's Press Office does not respond to his requests.
While we respect the Mobile Register, its other reporters and its editors,
we regret the paper's decision to endorse Eddie Curran's unprofessional
behavior. Among other inappropriate actions, Mr. Curran cursed a member of
the governor's staff for almost five minutes, repeatedly calling him a
'f--ing piece of rat s-t.' Such behavior is inappropriate and
unprofessional. We will not dignify it by continuing to communicate with
this reporter."

Marshall said the Register would not insert that statement in Curran's
articles. The governor's office said Friday that it had no comment on Curran
other than Buckalew's letter to Marshall.

Curran joined the Register in 1988 and, among his work on other subjects,
has written investigative reports involving both Republican and Democratic
administrations of state government.

When Republican Fob James was governor, Curran wrote a series of stories
showing that communities hiring a certain Montgomery lobbying firm were much
more likely to win "enhancement" grants awarded through the state Department
of Transportation.

A criminal investigation followed Curran's reports and, in December, John
Teague, fellow Montgomery lobbyist Johnny Moore, former state Transportation
Director Jimmy Butts, and Butts' son, Craig Butts, were indicted on charges
of conspiracy to solicit bribes and launder money.

In 1996, three of James' top Cabinet members resigned after Curran revealed
they had formed a private company with a James backer who went on to do
business with the state.

Curran's five-day series on the nationwide phenomenon of class action
lawsuit abuse won the Troy State University's 1999 excellence in journalism
award for "Meritorious Public Service in a Print Daily or Non-Daily."

"Eddie's a terrific reporter and enjoys our full faith and confidence,"
Marshall said. Keith Woods, who teaches ethics at The Poynter Institute in
St. Petersburg, Fla., said Curran "left himself and his newspaper open for
attack" by cursing at a staffer, drinking with a source and borrowing money
from another.

"When we start to say those things are OK, the risk begins," Woods said. The
Poynter Institute is a school for journalists.

At the same time, it is "childish" for the governor's office to not respond
to Curran's questions. "It is newsworthy that the governor's office is not
talking to a reporter, because that means that the governor's office is
controlling information important to the public," Woods said. "It begins a
process that only gets worse. Today, one reporter because he cursed,
tomorrow another reporter because he wrote something the governor didn't
like."





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]