Listen to the Steve Smith ethics program

On Feb. 16, 2006, Steve Smith, editor of the Spokesman Review newspaper in Spokane, spoke at an ethics program presented by the Western Washington Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

About 60 people packed a meeting room in the Seattle P-I building to hear what Smith had to say. He discussed the ethical questions the paper wrestled with before publishing an expose on former Spokane mayor Jim West in May 2005. The Spokesman Review's investigative series prompted a recall election in December 2005 that ousted West from office.

The paper published reports that West had offered city appointments and jobs to young gay men he met in an online chat room. It accused West of using positions of public trust - as a sheriff's deputy, Boy Scout leader and politician - to develop sexual relationships with boys and young men.

On the day Smith was in Seattle, the FBI announced that it would not file corruption charges against West; and West demanded an apology from the Spokesman Review. Smith refused, saying the paper stands behind its stories.

To hear audio of the ethics program featuring Steve Smith, click here.