MCT CAMPUSHundreds of reporters requested interviews with alleged kidnapper Michael Devlin, but he chose to only speak with Susannah Cahalan, a senior at Washington University and freelance writer for The New York Post. Devlin is charged with kidnapping Shawn Hornbeck in 2002 and William Ownby earlier this month.
Newspapers around the country condemned Cahalan for allegedly misrepresenting herself to Devlin and then proceeded to publish snippets of Cahalan’s interview in their articles.
Cahalan declined Student Life’s request for comment on her interview with Devlin. She has remained on campus and continued attending classes while her interview has received heavy national media coverage.
Cahalan interviewed Devlin this past Friday and Saturday for a freelance article in The New York Post’s Sunday paper. According to The St. Louis Post Dispatch, Cahalan signed in to the Franklin County Jail as a friend of Devlin. He agreed to speak with her in two 15-minute sessions where he talked about his everyday life, but not the alleged kidnappings.
It is unclear if Devlin knew that Cahalan was writing for The New York Post.
Devlin’s attorneys, who advised him not to speak with the media, are accusing Cahalan of deceiving both Devlin and the jail to obtain the interview. The attorneys are applying for a gag order that would stop The New York Post and other publications from publishing material from Cahalan’s interviews. The attorneys also charged that parts of Cahalan’s Post article were incorrect and filed a motion requesting that the interview not be used in Devlin’s trial, according to the Post Dispatch.
Robert Duffy, a journalism instructor at University College and former reporter and editor at The St. Louis Post Dispatch, said that it is unlikely that the attorneys’ request for a gag order will be approved. Normally, gag orders are only granted for matters of national security.
“It would be extraordinary if they got a gag order at this point. The story’s already been in the paper,” he said.
The attorneys also filed in a circuit court requiring that Cahalan surrender her interview notes to authorities. Devlin’s attorney, Michael Kielty, could not be reached for comment.
Cahalan wrote for the Cadenza section of Student Life in the 2004-5 school year. Former Editor in Chief, Margaret Bauer, a 2006 graduate, remembered Cahalan as a valuable reporter.
“At one point she was being considered for the position of Cadenza editor. She is a fantastic, witty writer. She was also one of the only people that was really into it and serious about sticking around,” Bauer said.
Duffy said that journalistic protocol necessitates clear identification of the reporter to the interviewee. “I understand and I respect aggressive reporting, but there are just certain rules of ethics and professional discipline that have to be followed, and this is one of them,” Duffy said.
“It’s bad ethics. It’s very tempting to misrepresent yourself to get a scoop,” Duffy said. “Out of respect for the subject, for your colleagues, for your reader, for the general ethical climate of journalism, you just don’t do that.”