1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Oregonian editorial page editor dies (after paying a college student for sex)

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Double Down, Mar 13, 2012.

  1. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member


    I'm probably going way too far in reading into things but this response, the DUI, the 23-year old - it all speaks to a guy whose mid-life crisis came a little late and a woman who knew it was taking place - even if she didn't KNOW it - and decided at this point in their marriage she'd stand by her man even though he doesn't sing love songs to her any more like when they were first married.

    You'd be shocked by how many of your neighbors, friends and even relatives are in this same exact situation, be it the man or the woman or both who have decided it is easier, after all these years, to overlook things and live and make the best of it than move on and try to start over.

    That's why, while this is indeed newsworthy because of who dude is, the actual details are probably far less "juicy" and "abnormal" than some of you seem to be fantasizing they are.
     
  2. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    A 63-year-old guy who makes a living criticizing the powers-that-be has been paying a 23-year-old college student to sleep with him for a year.

    That sounds pretty juicy and abnormal.

    You may live a more bohemian life than me, though.
     
  3. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    Like someone else noted, the DUI and pay-to-play with a 23-year-old coed might not be that unusual for a successful 60 year old.

    There's a whole lot of high-class escort services (and young secretaries) available to business executives who meet that description. Not defending this, just saying it happens.

    I agree that what brought these details out was a colleague lying about Caldwell's death, forcing The Oregonian to respond with the facts.
     
  4. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    Ace all I'm saying is you'd be surprised how many people you know who are in a similar situation
     
  5. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    I will extremely carefully note that I have at least one good acquaintance in his 60s, and one who I know only a little bit, who have given up for now on the dating world, thinking it worth neither the time, effort or expense, and basically put their financial resources toward a time or two every month under these circumstances.
     
  6. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    I really don't think it's that surprising. The part that's drawing readers is the fact that it's a newspaper editor (and one who helped shape the editorial page), and there's a voyeurism element to that.

    Like it or not, we've become the story, not just the story tellers.
     
  7. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Maybe. I can't even afford the services a grandmother going back to junior college.
     
  8. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    A sad but true reflection of what marriage has become...

    Happy to say I love my wife more now even than I did when we walked down the aisle 15 years ago. She's my best friend, my lover and a wonderful mother to our two kids. I couldn't ask for anything more.
     
  9. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    Anyone got the coed's number? Spring semester's right around the corner.
     
  10. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    The journalism ethics class she was planning to take is all booked up.
     
  11. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    Kind of surprised the Oregonian sourced the editor as a "family friend" considering she was on the breaking news team.

    Just a bad situation all around. The editor though would make a great guest for any journalism class. Where do your loyalties lie? A friend caught in a bad situation? His or her family? Your employer? You spend years in a career, a situation like this comes up, your shocked, don't really have time to reflect on it and then boom, career over.
    Best to let a supervisor know the real truth, let them decide what to run.
    I think we've all been in situations where a family member or friend of someone we've written about in a negative situation has complained - it doesn't impact us much because we don't or didn't "know" the person.
    It's easy to give a textbook "of course you run it" when you don't have to wonder if you'll lose a friend or alienate colleagues for doing it.
     
  12. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    The widow is an extraordinarily classy person. Kudos to her having more grace than I could muster.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page